


Ghosts in the Laboratory

by gravity0114



Category: Luigi's Mansion (2001), Super Mario & Related Fandoms, Super Mario Bros. (Video Games)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Adventure & Romance, Awkward Flirting, Awkward Kissing, Dorks in Love, F/M, Fluff and Crack, Humor, Light Angst, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Romance, experiments gone wrong, fourth wall breaks?, is it good? i don't know, mentions of abuse, mentions of depression, written by sixth grade me
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-04
Updated: 2018-04-04
Packaged: 2019-04-18 04:33:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 22,283
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14205150
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gravity0114/pseuds/gravity0114
Summary: This was written by a sixth grade me. I'm posting it years later because why not? Tell me if it's any good or worth continuing.





	1. Chapter 1

April 26, 1996  
Dear Diary,   
My name is Alastaire Boo, and I am now a king among Boos. Today I was finally able to take my father’s place as King of the Boos. Let’s just say my father was not the greatest king and not many will miss him, especially me (for reasons I will not disclose here). Today was my wife Lilly and I’s coronation. Just think, me and Lilly “King and Queen of the Boos”. This all comes very suddenly, after our marriage a little under a year ago. My parents did not approve of the marriage, and instead wanted to marry me off to a foreign princess for a strategic alliance, but I refused. I wanted to marry the person I loved, not the person who gave my kingdom the most power. (The princess I was supposed to marry was an ugly and garish bore anyway, so I don’t really care.) So Lilly and I were married in secret, with the only person in attendance being a former high school classmate of mine, Brett.   
Brett is, well, let’s just say “special”. He thinks he’s my friend, but in all honesty, he has to be one of the most annoying Boos I have ever met. That’s really something, considering I find most Boos I meet either extremely boring, or extremely annoying. Lilly, who is much nicer than me, urges me to be kinder to him, but I can’t stand him. The fact that he always seems to be around me makes it even worse.  
I was asked, rather forced, to adopt the human custom of writing in journals for “official records” by my father shortly before his death. I find it a waste of time, so I’m actually quite surprised at how much I wrote. Even if this is for official records, I don’t think I’ll be writing in this much, because like I said, I find this to be a waste of my time on something I frankly don’t care about. So don’t expect to be hearing too much from me, Well, I think I’ll stop writing now; it’s getting late and starting tomorrow, I have a kingdom to run.  
Signed,   
“King” Alastaire Boo


	2. Chapter 2

January 12, 1997  
Dear Diary,  
Happy New Year! I don’t know why I’m wishing Happy New Year to a book, but whatever. I was told by the kingdom’s archives staff to update this book, so here I am. I hate doing this and honestly couldn’t think of a worse way to spend my time. But Brett is here, so I’m currently up in my room trying to avoid him. Hopefully this won’t be an issue once Lilly and I move to our new home.  
Yes, we’re moving, and for good reason too. Neither Lilly nor I want to live in this palace built by my father. It’s way too big for us, and it costs way too much money for maintenance and staff payments. In my opinion it was a waste of taxpayer’s money. Maybe, I’ll have it converted into a museum or something like that, I don’t know. I also want to move out for a far more personal reason. I’ve never really liked living here, even as a little kid. It always seemed cold and unwelcoming here, partly because I have almost no good memories here. Recently I started having nightmares about my past here, every night for at least a week. After that, I told Lilly (because she’s the only one I can trust with most of my personal knowledge), and we both agreed that we need to move. So I went and looked at my father’s will, to see if he had left me any sort of property. It turns out he left me an old house in the country. I told Lilly, she was very excited to finally see me out of my depressed mood from the nightmares and insisted we go and look at the house this weekend.  
So we went. It turned out that the house is an old, long abandoned piece of junk in the middle of the woods. Pretty much the only thing I like about it is the seclusion. Other than that, this place should be torn down in my opinion. The wallpaper is peeling, the floors are rotting, the whole place is dusty and rat infested, and I think the whole thing is structurally unsafe. It would be just like my father to leave me this, always leaving me things like this. But Lilly is more of a visionary than I am, and has ideas for this place. I didn’t think it was safe, and we got into a huge argument about what to do with the place, until I consented to letting her try and get the place fixed up. I love Lilly, but sometimes she gets some crazy ideas. I just hope I don’t die in a horrific accident here.  
Signed,  
King Alastaire Boo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm just posting a few chapters to see if I get any interest.


	3. Chapter 3

July 14, 1997  
Dear Diary,  
It has been six months of hard days, sleepless nights, and at least three arguments about money, but the mansion is finally done. Despite being almost ready to fall down when we first saw it, the mansion actually looks really good. We tried to keep the aged look, while modernizing it to fit our needs. We saved a lot of money on wood, because there was an old Barn on the property. We have no animals, so we tore down the barn and used the wood in repairs. We installed heat and air conditioning, but that’s not fully done yet, so most of the time staying cool while working on interior stuff (we did most of that ourselves-so proud of us) involved standing in front of a window AC unit I put in on the third floor. Believe it or not, I actually found a use for Brett in painting and helping with interior work. The kid actually has an eye for design, despite his “special qualities”. I tried using my crown’s “magic”, of course that miserably failed. Despite my misgivings about this project in the beginning, I was politely surprised with how it came out, and I’m really glad I let Lilly pursue her idea. This place is a lot more welcoming and friendly than the palace, and I like that.  
Today is also my birthday (I’m turning 29 this year!!!), and since we’ve (meaning me and Brett, I didn’t want Lilly lifting the furniture, even though she said she could – she was sick) moved in most of the bigger things, Lilly decided to have a birthday/ housewarming party tonight. I don’t really like parties, but this will make Lilly happy, so I have to put on a smile and suffer through this. It’s small, just Brett (how the heck does he keep getting invited to stuff?) and some of Lilly’s family, but still.  
Well, I have to go get ready for the party (stupid bowties, I can’t ever seem to get them tied.), so I’m gonna stop writing. In fact, I think I’ll “lose” this diary for a while, just to get a break from writing. Until then.  
Signed,  
King Alastaire Boo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise actual plot coming soon!


	4. Chapter 4

April 22, 2001  
Dear Diary,   
I thought I had “lost” you for good, but after recent events, I feel like I need to put down my thoughts somewhere.  
Arrgh!! Those blasted Mario brothers were at it again! For years they’ve tortured my people unjustly, and for years I’ve tried to come up with a way to stop them. I originally went to Bowser to ask for his help, since he has an army consisting of something more than little boys in diapers, but he turned out to just be a loser with no life (other than kidnapping Princess Peach) and no girlfriend. Seeing that I would get no help from him, I managed to put aside my distaste for humans and (at Lilly’s urging) went to talk to Princess Peach about the threat the Mario brothers pose to the Boo Kingdom. She said that she’s tried to get the brothers to stop, but they refuse. Those Mario brothers are psychopaths.   
Seeing that nobody was going to help me, I sat down and came up with the perfect plan on my own. I made my house, which is not normally visible to humans, visible and turned it into a haunted house of sorts. (I’d noticed earlier that Luigi seemed scared of many things, especially the Boo Houses throughout the Mushroom Kingdom). I then paid a bunch of ghosts and Boos to help with my plan. Most of the Boos were perfectly willing to help, knowing the threat the Mario brothers pose to the Boo Kingdom. The ghosts, not being my subjects, to a little persuading, but I got them to help. I mailed a fake letter to Luigi saying that he’d won a mansion in a contest. Gullible Luigi told Mario to meet him there, and then I captured Mario in a painting. Now all I had to do was: either scare Luigi away and bring the Mario painting to Princess Peach (I wasn’t keeping those maniacs), or capture Luigi in a painting, and bring them both back. Princess Peach could decide what to do with them from there.  
But I had left one key variable out of my plan: My archrival, Professor E. Gadd. Professor E. Gadd is a scientist who captures ghosts, especially Boos, to do “research” on them. From what I’ve heard, most of his research involves putting Boos through a series of experiments to find out more about us. The experiments are horrible; most Boos don’t make it out, and those who do are forever changed. It’s horrible, and I refuse to simply stand by and let it happen like my father did. I may find most boos annoying, but I’m not going to stand by and watch them die!   
Everything was going according to plan, but then E. Gadd showed up and gave Luigi his ghost-capturing device, the Poltergust 3000. With this Luigi sucked up ghost after ghost, and Boo after Boo, until only I was left. I tried to fight Luigi, but that infernal Poltergust 3000 was too much for me. I thought I was surely going to die, but I suffered a fate perhaps even worse than death! I was trapped inside a painting for all eternity. I was able to get out with Lilly and Brett’s help (seriously, why do I not send security after him?) and we were able to free the ghosts and the Boos.   
This is something I won’t forget. Something needs to be done about this before it gets any worse.  
Signed,  
King Alastaire Boo

 

May 12, 2005  
Dear Diary,  
Tomorrow is Lilly and I’s 10th anniversary!!!! I can hardly believe she loves me enough to have stayed with me this long. She’s going to love what I have planned for us tomorrow! Can’t wait!  
Signed,  
King Alastaire Boo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The plot kickstarts next chapter. I was going through a Tolkien-esque phase in my writing at this point where I would do loads of worldbuilding before the plot actually started.


	5. Chapter 5

May 14, 2005  
Dear Diary,  
THEY TOOK HER!! THEY TOOK HER!!! JESUS CHRIST WITH A SIDE OF PUDDING, THEY TOOK HER!! They took Lilly from me! What am I gonna do? What’s a king without his queen? I’m already tortured, and they decide to take her from me, the one thing that made my day brighter, the one thing that brought a smile to my face, the one thing I loved in life?!?! Lilly was so much more than a queen to me; she was my wife, but also my best friend. She was the only one who saw me for the Boo I really was, not just some hate-filled outcast, or (according to my father) a no - good, lazy, low life excuse for a son and future king. For that, I love her more than anything. And now they’ve…they’ve… THEY’VE GONE AND STOLE HER FROM ME! How could they do this to me?  
I need to write down what happened because I can’t even begin to process what happened in my head.  
Yesterday morning was our anniversary. I had an amazing day planned for us, but I needed to pretend I forgot, just to get the day started. I woke up and walked down to the kitchen to pour myself a cup of coffee. Lilly was already downstairs waiting for me with a huge smile on her face. “Do you know what day it is?” she asked, with one of her goofy smiles.  
“No,” I replied, trying to sound as legitimately forgetful as I could, “Is it your birthday? Memorial Day? Is the Yankees vs. Mariners series starting today? OH MY GOD! I JUST REMEMBERED WHAT DAY IT IS!”  
“You did?” she asked hopefully.  
“It’s Rosh Hashanah, right?” I said, still trying to act dumb.   
Her smile immediately dropped, and she clearly sounded very upset as she said, “It’s our tenth anniversary! How could you forget?!?”  
Trying to sound sincerely apologetic I said, “I’m so sorry, I’ve just been so busy lately that it slipped my mind. Look, I’ll make it up to you. Why don’t we go out together for breakfast, my treat? How does IHOP sound?”  
She perked up a bit at this idea, and said, “I guess we can. But you’re paying.”  
We drove in the car for about 20 minutes before getting to IHOP. On the way. I was extremely worried about breakfast because I had gone out yesterday and told the IHOP manager to play “Shut Up and Dance” by Walk the Moon when we walked in. “Shut Up and Dance” is Lilly’s favorite song because it pretty much accurately tells the story of how we met, which was at a college dance. If the song didn’t play when we walked in, I was in for it when we got home. I just had to trust the manager.  
I got lucky that morning because as soon as we walked in, the song started playing, and a waiter came up and escorted us to our tables. Seeing all of this, Lilly said, “You planned this all?”  
“Yeah, it was no big deal,” I replied, leaning on a chair, which tipped over sending me flat on my face.  
“Oh Alastaire, you’re such a goofball!” she said, hugging me as soon as I got up.  
“Come on Lilly, not in public,” I said, hugging back awkwardly, “And you know I hate being addressed by my name in public.”  
“Alastaire, it’s our anniversary, just sit down and eat your pancakes.” She replied.  
The rest of breakfast went great, and as we were walking out I asked, “Did you like breakfast?”  
“Of course I did!” she said, “even though I sort of knew you were planning this and didn’t forget.”  
“You did?” I asked.  
“Alastaire, we’ve been married for ten years, and we’ve known each other for even longer. I think by now I should be able to tell when you’re faking” Lilly replied coolly.   
“Well,” I said, “If you liked what we just did, you’re going to love what I have planned for the rest of the day.”  
Lilly loves art, so the morning consisted of a trip to the local art museum. We both love hiking and being outdoors in general, so we spent the afternoon on a kayak trip down the river that runs by our house and up to the top of a local mountain.  
We got back to the house just in time to watch the sunset, so we sat out on the balcony and watched. Brett was hanging around, so I paid him $20 to play “That’s Amore” by Dean Martin.  
We were watching the sun set when I took out the necklace I had bought her. It was a Kay Jeweler’s Open Hearts Collection necklace. When I gave it to her, she said, “Oh Alastaire, you didn’t have to get me this.”  
“I know,” I said, “But I bought it to show you that through these ten years, we’ve had good times and bad times, and we’ve had our fair share of fights (And we HAVE). And even though I don’t say this nearly enough, I just wanted to say that I-  
“VRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!” Suddenly I heard the sound of a vacuum behind us. I turned and saw Luigi standing behind us, E. Gadd’s Poltergust 3000 strapped to his back. I turned and started to charge at him, but before I could do anything, Luigi turned on the vacuum and began to suck us both inside. It was like being trapped inside an F5 tornado. But I had to get free and get Lilly out of there. I struggled, putting all my weight against the force of the vacuum and eventually managed to pull myself free. I turned around to grab Lilly’s hand, but it was too late. Her arm just missed my grasp, and the last thing I heard from her before she was sucked in was her screaming my name. I just floated there, stunned, after she was pulled in.   
Luigi didn’t seem interested in capturing me because he ran off right after he captured Lilly. I tried to chase after him, but I was too weak from the vacuum. The last thing I could do was drag myself to my room and cry before I blacked out.  
I put it all down, but I still can’t process it. How could they do this to me, how could they take the one thing I loved in life? I need some sleep. I’m not signing the word “king” in my name, because like I said, what’s a king without his queen? 

 

Signed,  
Alastaire Boo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oooo look, is that the start of a plot I see?


	6. Chapter 6

May 15, 2005  
Dear Diary,  
Today was, well… I don’t know what to make of it. I woke up in my bed, and thinking what had happened had all been a really bad nightmare, I turned to tell Lilly about it, but the space next to me was empty. “Lilly?” I called out. No answer. A sheer sense of terror overwhelmed me. That all couldn’t have been real, it couldn’t have. Could it? I grabbed my diary from the nightstand and flipped open to the last written page. I almost fainted when I saw what I wrote. It was real, it was all real. The terror I felt was replaced with an extreme darkness at the loss of Lilly, guilt at not being able to save her, and anger at Luigi and E. Gadd for doing this to me. But over it all was a sense of confusion. All I could ask was “Why?” Why had this happened to me? Why did they take Lilly, the only thing I really loved in this world? And, why wasn’t I able to save her?  
Now, added to the confusion were the guilt, darkness, and anger. I sank down crying, unable to process what had happened, or the emotions swirling around inside of me. It felt like my heart had shattered, and a piece was missing.   
I sat there crying for what felt like hours, until I heard a Boo coming down the hall to my room. Acting on a hope beyond a hope, I called out “Lilly, is that you?”  
There was no answer, so I opened the door to see who it was and saw Brett floating there. Of all the Boos that could show up at this moment and see me like this, of course, it would be Brett. I must have some major karma, because every time I’m at my most vulnerable, Brett shows up and starts acting like a dog on a sugar rush.  
Before I could do anything, Brett bounded into the room and tackled me, screaming, “OHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGOD!! I FINALLY FOUND SOMEONE!! I WAS HIDING AND I WAS ALONE AND I WAS SO SCARED BUT THEN I FOUND YOU ALASTAIRE AND NOW I’M NOT SCARED! YAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!”  
I tried to push Brett off of me, but he was too heavy. Seriously, what has he been eating? I tried yelling at him to get off of me, but all that came out was a muffled blur.  
“Huh?” Brett asked, “Did you say something Alastaire?”  
I heaved with all my might and managed to throw Brett off of me. “I was trying to tell you to get off of me. Can’t you see I’m not in the mood for this? And didn’t I tell you not to call me Alastaire?” I snapped back at him.  
“Oh. Sorry.” Brett replied, “I was just so excited to find someone else here that I –  
“Wait, wait, wait.” I said, “Did you just say that you were excited just to find someone else here? What happened to the staff?” we had relatively few staff members at this house, compared to the palace. But we weren’t alone.  
“After Luigi captured Lilly, he went around catching all the other Boos. I hid in the hall closet most of the night. You didn’t notice the other Boos were gone?” Brett replied  
“No.” I replied, “I was almost captured, and it was all I could do to drag myself back here afterward.” I said. “So we’re alone?” I asked. At this, I shivered a little bit. One of my biggest fears since childhood was being alone.  
“Well, I don’t know Alastaire,” Brett answered, “Other Boos could have hidden like I did. Should we go check?”  
“Yeah, I guess we should,” I said, “And stop calling me Alastaire!”  
“Okay, sorry Ala-oops! Sorry.” Brett said.  
I groaned, and off we went. We checked every room in the house, but there was no sign of anyone. Between trying to ignore Brett’s obnoxious yelling every time we entered a room, and all the emotions I still felt, I was pretty much in a daze the whole time. Afterwards, Brett tried to make breakfast for us, and of course, miserably failed. It didn’t matter much because I was still too grief-stricken to eat. The rest of the day I spent in my room just thinking and still trying to process my emotions. Brooding, I guess you could say. Brett tried his best to console me, but it was no use. I just want to be alone right now. Unfortunately, that’s not going to happen tonight because Brett invited himself over, and decided to have a sleepover to try and cheer me up. Under normal circumstances, I would have kicked him out, but I’m not spending the night alone in this house, and Lilly wouldn’t want me to just kick him out. So I’ll do it. For Lilly. Signed,  
Alastaire Boo


	7. Chapter 7

May 26, 2005  
Dear Diary,  
Dark and stormy today, just like my heart. Nothing is the same without Lilly.  
Signed,   
Alastaire Boo

May 27, 2005  
Dear Diary,   
The rain continued today, both in my heart and outside. I just sat and stared out the window while listening to music. Most of it was darker music, but “Shut Up and Dance” by Walk the Moon had crept its way into my playlist. Lilly’s favorite song. It reminds me of her, and it makes my darkness a little bit brighter. So I play it. Brett tried to console me again today, but it doesn’t help. The only thing that would help is having Lilly back.   
Signed,  
Alastaire Boo

May 28, 2005  
Dear Diary,   
You are now officially the only one I can trust with my feelings after what Brett said to me today. I let Brett stay here (mostly because I hate being alone) and we were eating dinner when I told him how I was feeling. He tried his best to cheer me up, but when he saw that it wasn’t working, in a last-ditch effort to cheer me up he said, “You know, most Boos who get captured don’t make it out alive. Maybe you should try and move on. Find someone else. I mean, not right now, but eventually.”  
FIND SOMEONE ELSE?!? HOW COULD HE EVEN SAY THAT THAT TO ME RIGHT NOW?!? When he said this I got so angry, it was all I could do to keep myself from jumping across the table and knocking him to the ground. I screamed at him, “BRETT YOU IDIOT! HOW COULD YOU EVEN SAY THAT TO ME WHEN YOU KNOW HOW I FEEL RIGHT NOW?!?”  
“I’m sorry,” Brett whimpered, “I was just trying to –  
“JUST TRYING TO HELP ME?” I snapped back at him, “WELL GET THIS THROUGH YOUR STUPID HEAD! YOU CANNOT HELP ME RIGHT NOW, YOU DON”T KNOW WHAT I’m GOING THROUGH! NOW JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!! AND STOP CALLING ME ALASTAIRE!”I stormed out of the room. Brett looked hurt, but I was close to crying, so I honestly didn’t care. I stormed off to my room, where I locked the door and began to cry. I heard Brett knock on the door, but told him to go away. I needed to be alone right now, alone with my thoughts and emotions.  
I feel bad for hurting Brett’s feelings, but I can’t forgive him for what he said. Forget Lilly? How could I live with myself knowing I’d forgotten about the only Boo I loved? I don’t know, I just need to think right now. Maybe I’ll apologize to Brett later. But not now. Like I said, I need to be alone right now, I need to think.  
Signed,  
Alastaire Boo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Possible POV change net chapter...


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> POV change to Brett

PROBABLY FRIDAY  
Dear Alastaire’s Diary,   
I’m really worried about Alastaire, especially after what happened yesterday. But before I explain that, I guess I should explain who I am. I’m Brett, Alastaire’s best friend in the whole world (he pretends to hate me, but I know that deep down, he likes me. Why else would he scream at me when I call him by his name, or use me for random odd jobs?) and – Did you know that I LOVE pudding? All types of pudding are great, but I especially like chocolate pudding. Sometimes I get up at 2 A.M. just to eat chocolate pudding, and I – OH LOOK!! THERE’S A BUTTERFLY OUTSIDE! I like butterflies. They’re so pretty. I also have ADHD which gives me a very short attention span and- Wait, what was I talking about again? Oh yeah, I was talking about Alastaire, and how I’m worried about him.  
So yesterday we were eating dinner when I noticed how depressed Alastaire looked. Alastaire has been really sad since his wife Lilly was taken, but today it seemed worse than normal. All he had done that day (and for the past few days) was sit in his room and stare out the window, surrounded by old photos of him and Lilly while listening to sad music. I mean, I get that he’s sad, but that seems a little dramatic and look, the butterfly is back! Did I mention I like butterflies?   
I tried to cheer him up, but like every other day, the more I tried, the more depressed he got. Then I got the idea that if he wouldn’t listen to me, maybe it would help if he found someone else to talk to. Like how buying another dog helps you cope with the loss of your dog that died. Alastaire didn’t see it that way, because as soon as I said it, he got really angry and started screaming at me. He called me an inconsiderate idiot and said I didn’t know what he was going through or what love even was. He looked like he was about to jump across the table and kill me for saying that. He stormed out really fast, but before he left, I saw tears forming in his eyes. Alastaire NEVER cries.  
I feel really bad for hurting his feelings like that, but he seemed so sad. I just wanted to try and make him happy. I tried to go up and apologize, but he just screamed at me to go away and locked the door. I hope he sees this and knows I’m sorry. Oh dang it, here he comes now. I gotta put this down and act like I was never in here.  
-BRETT


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> POV change back to Alastaire

May 30, 2005  
Dear Diary,   
I can’t believe Brett would do this to me! Going in my room, looking through my stuff, and writing in my diary! My diary! This is where I pour out all my feelings and show a part of me that only a few people in my entire life have seen. And I do NOT want anyone seeing this, especially Brett. I just hope he didn’t read any of what I wrote because if he did, I’ll tie his tail in a knot and throw him out a third story window.  
In an earlier entry, I said that I might apologize for hurting Brett’s feelings. Now I’m definitely not. He’s the one who should be apologizing to me for insulting me and then breaking any form of trust I had in him. I don’t want to see him ever again.  
Signed,  
Alastaire Boo

May 31, 2005  
Dear Diary,  
This is it, I’ve officially lost my mind. Today I heard my first voice. It was just a whisper, calling my name while I was alone in my room. At first, it thought it was Brett, but when I got no reply to my scream to go away, I knew I had finally lost it. I know what I have to do. I need to find Lilly before it’s too late for both of us.  
Signed,   
Alastaire Boo 

June 2, 2005  
Dear Diary,  
So today, Brett and I set out to rescue Lilly. That’s right, me and Brett. Of all the Boos I could be going on this trek with, it ended up being Brett. Here’s how it happened.  
I had made up my mind to go and rescue Lilly but had kept it a secret because I really didn’t want anyone tagging along, especially Brett. But as I was leaving, Brett saw me and bolted over to me like a puppy who hasn’t seen its master in days.  
“OH MY GOSH, ALASTAIRE I HAVEN’T SEEN YOU IN DAYS!!! YOU FINALLY LEFT YOUR ROOM!! But why do you have a backpack with you? Ooh! Are you going somewhere? Can I come with you?”  
“Brett, calm down,” I replied. I needed him to leave me alone for at least 5 minutes so I could get away from this place and start heading towards E. Gadd’s bunker where he does his research. But how was I going to come up with a believable excuse for why I, who had barely left the house in two weeks, was going out into the middle of the woods with a backpack full of survival gear? I had to come up with something, but what? Oh well, I had to say something and hope of the best.  
“I’m just going out for a hike,” I said trying to sound as nice as I could (I could still barely stand seeing him after what he did), “I’ll be back by sundown, and then we can make s’mores and play Chinese checkers. How does that sound? And would you please stop calling me Alastaire?!”  
“Awesome!!!” Brett said, “I can’t wait for you to – But wait, Alastaire –oops! sorry-, you hate being alone, especially out on the trail. And why are you carrying such a huge backpack for an afternoon hike? Is there something you’re not telling me?”  
What was I supposed to do now? Brett had basically figured out that I was planning to ditch him, and was now demanding answers. I guess I had to be honest with him and hope he wouldn’t want to follow me. I really didn’t want him tagging along.  
“Alright man, you caught me.” I said, “I’m going to rescue Lilly. I can’t leave her there any longer. I have to get her back.”  
“WHAT?!?!” Brett screamed, “YOU’RE GOING TO RESCUE LILLY?!?! OH MY GOSH THAT’S SO AWESOME! LET’S GO RIGHT NOW, I’LL PACK A BAG! WE’RE GONNA HAVE SO MUCH FUN! IT’LL BE LIKE CAMPING, ONLY WITH AN OBJECTIVE!”  
Camp out in the woods in the middle of nowhere with HIM? No, no, and no, there was NO WAY ON EARTH I was bringing Brett along on the most important trip of my life.  
Brett had already started towards the house to go get his things, but I grabbed him and turned him around saying, “Whoa, whoa, whoa, I never said anything about bringing you along. Now go back inside; I’ll be back with Lilly in around a week”  
“But Alastaire, why can’t I come?” Brett whined, “It would be so much fun.”  
“That’s exactly why I’m not taking you.” I said, “You can never focus; all you think about is having fun. This trip isn’t about having fun, it’s about rescuing the most important thing in my life. And would you PLEASE stop calling me Alastaire?! ”  
“But Alastaire, we do everything together!” Brett said.  
“Yeah,” I retorted “BECAUSE YOU’RE ALWAYS AROUND!!!”  
“But that’s because we’re-   
Here I stopped him mid-sentence. I was really starting to get angry and didn’t want to hear any more of his whining. I just couldn’t take it anymore, the storm of emotions that was driving me crazy. (Plus, I had never really liked Brett, so I just exploded at him).  
“BEST FRIENDS? BECAUSE WE’RE BEST FRIENDS?! BRETT, WHEN WILL YOU GET THIS THROUGH YOUR STUPID HEAD?! WE HAVE NOT, ARE NOT, AND NEVER WILL BE BEST FRIENDS! I HATE YOU AND CANNOT STAND THE SIGHT OF YOU, OR THE SOUND OF YOUR STUPID VOICE!! ESPECIALLY NOT AFTER WHAT YOU DID TO ME!”  
For once, he seemed to know what I was talking about when he said, “But I was just trying to apologize. I really am sorry.”  
“WELL, I DON’T CARE!” I screamed back at him “ YOU CAN BE AS SORRY AS YOU WANT BUT IT WON’T MAKE ANY DIFFERENCE BECAUSE YOUR NOTHING MORE THAN AN IDIOT WHO DOESN’T DESERVE MY FORGIVENESS! GOSH, I HATE YOU!!”  
I was still steaming mad, but when I looked over, I saw Brett, nearly in tears.  
“Fine,” he said, trying not to cry, “If you really feel that way, then I guess I’ll leave.”  
I had never seen Brett like this before. He was always so happy. In fact, I didn’t think I had ever seen him cry. But seeing him like this made me realize for once, just how much my words can hurt others. A sudden feeling of guilt washed over me, and I realized that I had to apologize.  
“Brett, I’m sorr- I went to say, but he just brushed back a tear before turning around and flying away.  
“Brett!” I called after him, but he was already out of earshot. I started after him but then I thought “Why would he want to talk to me after what I just said to him?” So I sat down on the grass and watched him go. There was a puddle in front of me, and as I looked down, for just a second I could have sworn I saw my father’s reflection instead of mine. I stared down in horror at what was now my reflection as I thought, “Am I becoming my father?”  
I’ve tried to avoid it for so long, but looking down at my reflection in the puddle, I realized I couldn’t do that anymore. I couldn’t keep running from the past. So I guess I should explain who my father was. Here goes….  
My late parents were the former King and Queen of the Boos, the title that now belongs to Lilly and I. Because of this they were almost never around when I was growing up. And when they were around, they only seemed to have criticism for me, getting progressively worse as I grew older. My father especially seemed to criticize me.  
Because my parents were almost never around, I was raised by servants who weren’t afraid to use physical punishment to prove a point. Between the beatings, and the criticism from both the servants and my parents, I grew into a very cold and hateful child. I was very snarky and sarcastic, and I fought with my parents, pretty much whenever they were around. But on the inside, I was a very different story. On the outside, the criticism and beatings made me sarcastic, but on the inside, it only led to depression. I was very depressed, but pretty much no one knew it, because I had learned to hide it. I felt absolutely worthless.   
When my mother died (I was about 15 at the time, not really the age for this to happen) my father became even colder than before. He went from criticizing me to outright insulting me. We could barely even look at each other without getting into an argument. My depression got even worse, and I began having nightmares. Things got progressively worse until college when I met Lilly. By this time, I was at the end of my rope, and I was so glad to finally find someone who saw some value in me. When I was with her, I felt like I was worth something, like I was actually cared about. I felt like I didn’t have to prove anything. For that I love her. After I met Lilly, I stopped having nightmares, and my depression got progressively better.  
Unfortunately, my father didn’t feel the same way about Lilly. He disapproved of me marrying anyone who wasn’t royalty, and had long ago arranged for me to marry a foreign princess for an alliance. I refused, and from that point, we barely ever spoke to each other. This was one of the reasons I felt almost no pain at my father’s death.   
My father was also who I was named after, and he’s why I hate being called by my name. It only reminds me of him and the horrible legacy he left as a king.  
As I was sitting on the ground and thinking, I suddenly heard the bushes rustle behind me. I got up and started to look around, but saw nothing. “Probably just the wind,” I thought. I started to sit back down, but then I heard a stick snap behind me. I got back up. I could feel eyes staring at me, but I didn’t see anything. I didn’t like this feeling. Then I started smelling smoke. This was not good, so I got up and left the clearing. The smell got stronger and stronger and I was going faster and faster, until everything stopped dead. No more rustling, and the smell of smoke was gone. I breathed a sigh of relief, but then from behind me, I heard a howl, loud and clear. I turned around in horror to see a pack of Volcanines staring directly at me from on top of a small ridge.   
Volcanines are wolf-like animals made from fire. Their fur is regular fur, ranging from ash grey to black. Their tails are made of fire, and fire is mixed in with their fur. They have claws made from obsidian and can light any part of their body on fire at any time. They are the Boos’ natural predator, due to the fact that they need to eat things that glow to keep their fire going, and Boos have a natural glow to them  
We just stood there staring each other down for a second. I could feel the pairs of eyes, 16 in all, looking at me, sizing me up, and seeing if I was any good as food. Then another howl came, and suddenly, they all started rushing down the ridge at me. I’d love to say that I fought them off, or took off and escaped them, but I didn’t. I just stood there, staring, until the last possible second. Just as they were about to get close enough to attack, something inside me kicked on and I took off. I was going as fast as I possibly could, but it looked like they were hardly even trying. They were running around and behind me, trying to herd me into one particular spot. I was lost and afraid, and feeling like a deer in a nature documentary being chased by a pack of wolves. I honestly thought that this was how I was going to die, eaten alive by Volcanines.   
In a last-ditch effort to escape them, I shot off to the left and tumbled down into a ravine. It was no use because the Volcanines shot down into the ravine after me. I got up, but there was nowhere to go. The wall I was up against was too high to float over and too thick to pass through. With nowhere to go, I curled up against the wall and prepared for death. I thought, “This is it. I die here. I’ll never get to apologize to Brett, or see Lilly again.” The thought of never seeing Lilly again was too hard to even think about. I could feel glowing tears against my cheek, which made the Volcanines even hungrier.   
The Volcanines had formed a semicircle around me, and they were all barking and snapping viciously at me. But they were all silenced when their leader, an obsidian black wolf, stepped out from the semicircle. He paced around me growling, looking for a point of weakness. I just curled up and watched him, shaking and crying. I could see flames escaping the corners of his mouth. He had lit his teeth on fire. Suddenly he dove for me. I could see the flames on his teeth. He dove straight for me, but in a split-second reaction I blocked with my arm and he bit that instead. This was meant to be a kill bite, so he bit down hard. I screamed in pain. It felt like being branded with a hot iron while being bit by a wild animal. The lead Volcanine drew back for another blow, but before he could, all of their heads turned to a strange rumbling coming from the top of the ravine. I turned too, and I couldn’t believe what I saw. Through my tears and sweat, I saw Brett standing triumphantly next to a large rock.  
“Hasta la vista, puppies!” Brett shouted before knocking the rock loose. This set off an avalanche of rocks and dirt that came rolling down into the ravine, burying the Volcanines in an avalanche of squeaks and whines. One of the rocks flew out of the main path of the avalanche, scraping my arm as it went past.  
Brett flew down the ravine to where I was and gave me a huge hug.   
“Alastaire!! I’m so glad you’re alive!!!” Brett said   
“Brett?” I asked, hugging back awkwardly, “How did you find me? I thought you had run away after I exploded at you.”  
“Alastaire, you’re my best friend, I would never leave you out here,” Brett replied  
“But how did you find me?” I asked.  
“It was pretty easy.” Brett said, “I was walking away when I heard Volcanines howling. I was about to start running for my life, but then I heard you screaming and I knew that even after what you said to me, I couldn’t just let you die. So I went back. At first, I couldn’t figure out how to save you, but then I saw the rock and knew if I knocked it loose, the whole slope would come down. It was a bit of a gamble, but it worked. You scream like a girl by the way.”  
“You would do all that for me?” I questioned, “Even after what I said to you?”   
“Alastaire,” Brett said, “You’re my best friend, of course I would.”  
That was the most moving thing I had ever heard Brett say. I stuttered over an apology, but Brett stopped me mid-sentence.   
“I know you’re sorry Alastaire,” Brett said hugging me again “I know. And I’m sorry for just writing in your diary. I should have had the courage to apologize face to face.”  
All I could do was hug back awkwardly, but when I did, Brett stopped short.  
“Alastaire you’re bleeding!” he exclaimed.  
I looked down at my arm and saw the growing patch of red where I was bitten. It stung due to dirt being in it and being burned.  
“Yeah, I guess I am.” I said looking back down at the bite, “Do you have anything to fix this, before I die of blood loss?”  
“Yup!” Brett said, “I brought a first aid kit in my bag when I went back to the house after I heard that howl. Let’s get you fixed up.”   
Brett fixed my arm up and afterward, Brett said “Friends?”  
“Acquaintances.” I jokingly replied.  
“Close enough,” Brett said.  
“This could be the beginning of something beautiful: Acquaintanceship” I joked, “And by the way, I DO NOT scream like a girl.”  
“Yeah you do, “ Brett said.   
Brett elbowed me, and we both fell down laughing for a solid minute. Brett can still be annoying times, but he’s one of the most loyal Boos you could ever meet. And with someone like that around, the darkness seems a little bit brighter. Signed,  
Alastaire Boo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a bit of a longer chapter. I'll probably have some more of those in the future.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another long chapter!!! By the way, no literary work of mine is complete without cringy pop culture references that are probably outdated by now. Cringe fodder ahead...

June 3, 2005  
Dear Diary,  
There’s a thunderstorm outside, so Brett and I can’t really go any further than this little cave that we found. There’s not much to do, and telling stories about Lilly helps pass the time, and it makes me feel a little bit better. So here’s the story of how Lilly and I met (I guess).  
It was the year 1991. My junior year at college. I was at my worst as far as my depression went. I was very sarcastic and argumentative in class, and my grades weren’t doing too well because of it, my average at that time being a D. It wasn’t because I didn’t know what I was doing, it was because my depression had good (ish) days and bad days. On the good days, I was sarcastic, arguing with the teachers, and in general, refusing to learn. On the bad days, however, I was the complete opposite; I was shy, quiet, and depressed. On these type of days, I didn’t even bother to leave my dorm.  
My father knew about this but didn’t care. He just called me a delinquent, a truant, and a lazy no good excuse for a son and future king. This was the kind of criticism that made me this way, but he didn’t seem to care. But enough rattling on about that. This is supposed to be the story of how I met Lilly, not the story of my depression and why it happened.  
The only Boo who still talked to me at this time was, of course, Brett. He was the only one brave enough to hang around me, even on the bad days, when I wanted nothing more than to curl up in the dark, alone. But Brett wouldn’t allow that. He would come over (usually with some goofy gift) and drag me somewhere to “cheer me up”. At the time I considered it nothing more than an addition to my already heavy burden, but now I’m starting to realize just how helpful he actually was.  
On this particular day, I was feeling especially bad. I was alone in my room in the dorm, just sitting in the dark. Suddenly I heard the door swing open. At first, I thought it was one of my roommates, who weren’t much of a concern since they tended to avoid me, especially when I was like this. But then Brett burst into my room and shattered all my hopes of being alone in peace that night.  
“HEY ALASTAIRE!!” Brett shouted as he swung open the door to my room, “Oh wow, it’s dark in here. Open the blinds would you? You need to get some light before you turn into one of those weird cave fish we learned about in high school biology. Remember that class? Oh God, Mr. Paulson, all those mispronounced science jokes; that was a fun class.” He then proceeded to swing open the blinds, letting in the late afternoon sun.  
“Yeah of course I do,” I murmured (I hated that class). “Ugh Brett what are you even doing here and why are you – AHHHHHH TOO MUCH LIGHT” I hissed as he opened the blinds.  
“Much better!” Brett exclaimed, completely oblivious to me holding my arm up to my eyes and lying curled up on my floor to avoid the light. “I’m here to say that my fraternity, Beta Delta Omega, is having their annual spring dance, and this year it’s bring a friend and I decided to bring you, so go put on something nice!”  
Brett wasn’t even officially in the fraternity, he just sort of hung around with them, and it was just accepted that he was there.  
“Brett, who said I even wanted to go?” I replied. I was definitely NOT in the mood for a party.  
“Come on Alastaire!” Brett whined, ‘it’ll be so much fun!!”  
“No Brett, I’m not in the mood to go,” I said.  
“Alastaire you’re never in the mood to do anything!!” Brett whined again, “Now come on. I guarantee that you’ll be much happier if you do.”  
“Ugh...” I groaned and turned over.  
“Alastaire, come on, don’t be a baby,” Brett said  
I hated being called a baby, and Brett knew it. Dang it, he knew how to motivate me. “Come on, let’s go. I’ll show you who the baby is. And stop calling me Alastaire!”  
So we went to the dance. I had no intention of actually dancing, and at the moment I hated Brett for making me go, but now I couldn’t be more thankful that he did.  
We got to the dance, which was being held in at one of the rec halls on campus. After a few minutes of persuasion, Brett finally managed to drag me in there. I immediately noticed that there were girls at the party.  
“Brett,” I whispered, “Why are there girls here? I thought this was a frat party.”  
Going to this party was enough. I was NOT dealing with girls tonight.   
But as I was about to turn and walk out, Brett whispered back, “It’s just our sister sorority. Come on, I bet you can get at least one of their numbers.”  
I whispered back to Brett, “Eww no, not from these girls.”  
Brett punched me in the shoulder and whispered, “Come on Alastaire, you’re quite the ladies’ man. I bet you could.”  
“No,” I whispered back.   
“Come on, just one. Please.” Brett whispered, giving me another punch on the shoulder.  
“No, I’m not doing it,” I whispered to Brett.  
“Come on man,” Brett whispered, “I’ll give you twenty bucks if you do.”  
Brett knew me too well. There was no way I was turning down easy money.   
“Ugh fine,” I whispered, “I’ll do it. But we speak of this to no one, all right?”  
Brett just laughed and pushed me out of the entrance saying “Come on Romeo, go get a good one!”  
I groaned and looked around at the Boos on the dance floor in front of me. Most of the guys seemed to be either at the snack table or sitting somewhere, but I wasn’t too interested in them. I was more interested in the girls, or more specifically, the easy money I could get off of them. I decided to head over to the snack table to get a better view of my surroundings. On the way there I could see I was attracting attention because I heard three girls whispering about me as I walked past them.  
“He’s cute,” One of them whispered, “Who is he?”  
“I don’t know,” the second one whispered “Brenda, do you know him?”  
“No not really,” the Boo named Brenda whispered back, “I think he’s in my calculus class, but I don’t know his name.”  
“Girls.” I thought. Why had I even agreed to do this? I was seriously beginning to question my sanity. I needed some snacks. I finished walking over to the snack table and grabbed a glass of punch. I looked around at the Boos near me. All of them looked either extremely boring, or annoying. But as I was looking around, I noticed a Boo who seemed different. It was a girl, pretty, with a pink bow pinned up in her light brown hair. She was over on the other side of the room, talking with what seemed to be her friends. I watched her, wondering if I should go over and try and get her number. I still had a bet going after all, and if I was going to get a number from one of the girls here, it might as well be from someone who wasn’t a moron. But then she looked over at me, and I looked away and tried not to act like a loser. “Was I staring?” I thought. If I was, I really hoped she didn’t see me.  
Unfortunately for me, Brett saw me and decided to start giving me dating advice  
“Go over to her.” He mouthed and jerked his head, “Try and get her number.”  
“No, not from her!” I mouthed back.  
“Why not?” Brett asked, “Are you scared?”  
“No,” I shot back, “It’s just that she’s-   
“She’s what?” Brett interjected, “Pretty? Ooh, you like her, don’t you Alastaire? Ooh, Alastaire’s in love!”  
“Lover Boy, Lover Boy!!” he began chanting.  
“Brett Be quiet before someone sees us!” I said, “And I don’t like her, it’s just that she’s-  
“LOVER BOOOYY!!” Brett shouted, stopping me mid-sentence again.  
One of the Boos at the snack table turned his head and stared at us awkwardly for a few seconds, before backing away slowly.  
I was about to scream at Brett for making the both of us look awkward as heck, but the DJ’s voice stopped me from doing so.  
“Ladies and Gentleboos,” he said into the mic on his table, “It’s time for our annual Meet-and-Greet song! So everybody grab a partner, and let’s get this party started!”  
Music started blasting from the speakers, and everybody immediately either went for a partner or a chair on the sides of the room. Brett saw some friends of his and went over to go party with them, leaving me alone in the middle of the dance floor.  
“Brett you idiot!” I screamed, “Don’t just leave me here!”  
He didn’t hear me.   
“Brett!” I screamed again.  
Still nothing.  
“BRETT YOU MORON, ANSWER ME!” I screamed for the last time.  
He still didn’t hear me. “Was he deaf or something?” I wondered. Not wanting to make a complete idiot out of myself anymore that night, I went and sat over on one of the chairs at the side of the room.   
“Well this is lame,” I thought to myself, “Brett drags me to a dance full of Boos I don’t know, makes a stupid bet with me, and then abandons me. Great, just great.”  
But as I was sitting there complaining to myself about how horrible my life was, I hadn’t noticed the girl I had seen earlier coming over to my chair.  
“Hi!” she said.  
I wasn’t expecting to hear anyone next to me, let alone her, so when I looked up and saw who was talking to me, I fell out of my chair in surprise, knocking down several other chairs in the process. Luckily the music was so loud, no one noticed except her and a few people sitting nearby. Still feeling like an idiot on the inside for embarrassing myself in front of other Boos, I got back up and tried to play it off.   
“Smooth…” I said, leaning back in a chair and falling over again.  
She laughed as I got back up, and said, “You don’t need to play it off, and I do this to myself all the time.”  
I laughed along, and for the first time in a long time, I didn’t feel angry or depressed, just embarrassed and a little bit nervous, for reasons I couldn’t figure out at the time.  
I got up and said, “Well I guess I should say something right now, so um hi, I guess…”  
She laughed again and said, “I saw you staring at me earlier, and then I saw you sitting over here looking all depressed, and I wondered if you wanted to partner up for the Meet-and-Greet song since you seemed unhappy.”  
I was taken aback at the thought of someone even wanting to be around me, let alone being my dance partner for even one song. This turned me into a stuttering mess.  
“Well, uh, I uh, um, uh” I stuttered like a broken record.  
“It’s okay if you don’t want to,” she said, “I was just wondering.”  
“No, I-I’d love to, I-I just, uh, uh” I stuttered again. Why did my brain pick now to do this?  
“Oh come on,” she said grabbing my arm, and pulling me onto the dance floor, “Just come and dance!”  
I stood there on the dance floor like a deer in the headlights. She just started dancing, without a care in the world, and I was just standing there like a fool.  
“I’m not sure if I can do this,” I said nervously.  
“Come on, it’s not that hard!” she said, “Just mirror my steps. You can do it!”  
I just stood there for a second, not sure what to do.  
“Just try,” she said, “it doesn’t matter if you look good doing it or not.”   
This spurred me on a little bit, and I looked over at her again. She moved with such grace, I wasn’t sure if I could do it. Was I staring again? Not wanting to look like an idiot for the fifth time that night, I just started dancing. Slowly (and awkwardly) at first, I started dancing. I just mirrored her movements. It was surprisingly easy, and I started to get more confident.  
She noticed that I seemed more confident and said, “See, I told you that you could do it. By the way, I don’t think I ever introduced myself, my name is Lilly, Two L’s not one, Y not IE.”  
“Lilly,” I said, “That’s a pretty name, like a flower.”  
“OF DEATH!!” Lilly blurted out, “Sorry, it’s just that in many cultures the lily is a symbol of death and new life, so I just sort of blurt that out when people mention that my name is a flower around me.”  
“No, that’s actually really cool, how you know something about what your name means.” I said, “I can see it now, Lilly, the flower – OF DEATH!!! It’s better than my stupid name.”  
“Oh my gosh!” Lilly said, “I completely forgot to ask you what your name was. I am so sorry!!”  
“No, it's fine.” I replied, “My name’s Alastaire by the way.”  
“Wait, wait, wait,” Lilly said, giving me a confused look, “your name’s Alastaire? As in Alastaire Boo, Prince of Boos?”  
I nodded.  
Her look of confusion changed to one of surprise and embarrassment, as she bowed and said, “Your Majesty, please forgive me. I didn’t recognize you at all, I’m so sorry.”  
“It’s fine,” I said, “You don’t have to bow to me, I actually prefer not being recognized as royalty. And you can just call me Alastaire, or Alex. I get sick of always being called ‘Your Majesty’ all the time. ‘Your majesty this, Your Majesty that, Your Majesty, Your Majesty, Your Majesty! I get so sick of it sometimes.”   
Lilly laughed and said, “Yeah, I guess that would get pretty annoying after a while.”   
I normally preferred not to be called by my name, but she made me feel like I wasn’t being judged just by my name.  
“I like Alastaire better than Alex. Alastaire fits you better,” Lilly said.  
“I guess so,” I joked, “seeing that it’s my actual name, and not just a nickname, like Alex.”  
Lilly was about to say something, but then she looked up and said, “The next song they’re playing is the Macarena. You do know how to dance to that, don’t you?”  
“Yeah, of course, I do; who doesn’t?” I replied, “Now come on, let’s show them our mad skills.”  
Lilly laughed and said, “Like you have any,” before dragging me off to the front of the line for the Macarena.  
We were dance partners for the rest of the night. We had so much fun, I actually forgot about my depression for most of the night. Lilly was really funny and energetic, and there was something about her that just made you want to laugh. She was majoring in psychology, so she was smart to boot. But the best thing about her was that when I was around her, I didn’t feel like I was being judged or criticized, I felt like I had some value to her.  
During the entire night, I also felt a sensation of joy that I hadn’t felt in a long time. When I was around Lilly, I felt so light and happy. Was it because of all the fun I was having or was it because of her? Was this what love was? A need to be with someone else, and a complete and utter joy when you’re with them? These were the questions I was asking myself in the back of my mind while we were at the party.  
The party went on until the last dance of the night. A slow dance. Finally, a dance that I was semi-good at!  
Lilly, for the first time that night, looked a little unsure of herself as she said, “The last dance is a slow dance. Do you want to sit it out?”  
“Why?” I asked, “You were so good at all the other dances. What’s wrong with this one?”  
“It’s a slow dance,” Lilly replied, “I’m not very good at those, and I don’t want to make us look awkward.”  
“Come on, don’t worry about that.” I said, “You can’t look any worse than me. Besides, Ballroom Dancing was one of the classes I had to take back when I was homeschooled. I never really paid attention, but I think I can remember how to do it.”  
“You think you can remember how to do it?” Lilly questioned.  
“Come on,” I said, “Just trust me. We’ll be fine.”  
I reached out my hand. Lilly hesitated for a moment before grabbing it.  
“Okay, just don’t fall or anything.”  
“Relax, we’ll be fine,” I said before pulling her out onto the dance floor.  
She just stood there for a second. I noticed this and said, “Just relax. Grab my other hand, and the rest is easy. Just mirror my steps. Like you told me.”  
Lilly nodded and we started to move. She was amazing almost instantly, a natural born dancer.   
“See, not so hard is it? You’re a natural, almost better than m-  
Here I stumbled and fell, dragging us both to the ground. I looked over to see if Lilly wanted to keep dancing or not, but what I saw completely surprised me. Instead of wanting to get up and stop dancing, she was laughing!  
“We look so awkward,” Lilly said in between laughs, “But I don’t even care anymore.”  
I was about to say something, but Lilly, still laughing, said,” Oh, just shut up and dance with me!”  
We danced for the rest of the song, without falling, and when the song was over, Lilly said, “Thanks for being my dance partner, I really had a lot of fun tonight, Alastaire.”  
“I should be thanking you,” I said, “If it wasn’t for you, I’d still be sitting in a chair like a dork.”  
Lilly laughed and said, “You know Alastaire, you’re really pretty funny once you come out of your shell. Maybe we could hang out again sometime?”  
“Yeah,” I said, “That’d be great.”  
I was about to say something else, but Lilly looked at her watch and said suddenly, “Oh wow look at the time! I really need to go. I want to get some sleep so that I’m not a zombie during my sorority meeting tomorrow. See you around, guess.”  
“Yeah, see you around,” I said as I watched her go. I really hoped I would see her again. There was something about her that made her different from all the other Boos I met. As I was standing there thinking about what it could be, suddenly I felt hands grab my shoulders. I turned around to see Brett standing there.   
“Hey!” Brett said.  
“BRETT WHAT DID YOU DO THAT FOR?!?!” I screamed at him.  
“Just wanted to see how you were doing.”  
“Just fine, after you ABANDONED ME!” I screamed again.  
“Oh come on, lighten up,” Brett said, “I knew you’d be fine. Plus, you seemed to be somewhere else. I didn’t want to bother you.  
“WAIT,” I said, “YOU SAW ALL OF WHAT HAPPENED TONIGHT?!?!”  
“Yup,” Brett replied, “And I have so many questions for you!! Who is she? Does she like you? And most importantly, did you get her number?”  
I had completely forgotten about the bet! I had been hanging out with her the whole night and forgot to ask for her number! What the heck was I supposed to do now? I could try and lie, but Brett knew me too well. Guess I was out twenty bucks.  
“No,” I said.  
Brett said, “Wow Alastaire, I really expected you’d get at least one. On the bright side, I get twenty bucks. Well actually that’s not much of a bright side for you, but oh well. Now fork it over.”  
“Ugh fine.” I groaned and handed him twenty dollars. “There goes a week’s gas money,” I thought as I handed him the money.  
Annoyed, I walked out ahead of him out to his car. But as I got to the car I noticed something on it. As I walked closer I realized what it was. There, in the dirt encrusted on Brett’s car, was Lilly’s phone number!  
“Oh Brett,” I said as I looked over at the car, “Would you look at that? I guess I really am quite the ladies’ man.”  
Brett flew over and looked at the number. “Come on man you faked that. I mean Lilly? What kind of name is that?”  
“No, that is 100 percent real, I guarantee it,” I said.  
“Then call it,” Brett said, with a look of disbelief.  
“Fine,” I said, “I’ll prove it to you.” I dialed the number on my cell phone. It started ringing. “Come on, come on, pick up,” I thought as it rang. Finally, her voicemail came on.   
“Hi this is Lilly,” her voicemail said, “I’m not around right now, but leave a message and I’ll get back to you, alright?”  
I didn’t bother leaving a message. I just hung up and turned around and looked at Brett. He just stared at me for a second, before saying, “Alright, I guess you weren’t lying, you are quite the ladies’ man.”  
“Ahem” I interrupted him.  
“What?” Brett replied, “Oh right, the money. Here you go I guess.” He handed me my money.  
“And an extra twenty for winning the bet,” I said.  
“No way!” Brett exclaimed, “I gave you your twenty bucks back, I’m not giving you any more!”  
“Yeah but I won the bet,” I said trying to convince him, “ And by giving me twenty, you’re just giving me my money back, not giving me the twenty bucks I won. Therefore I deserve another twenty.”  
I knew Brett would fall for this. “Fine,” he said, “here’s forty.”   
“Ha-ha, what a sucker,” I said as Brett handed me the money.  
Brett didn’t seem to notice that and jumped into the car. I got into the car after him and said, “Come on man, let’s go home.”  
“What’s the magic word?” Brett questioned.  
“Please,” I spat.  
Brett started up the car and pulled out of the parking lot. On the way home he said, “So Lilly’s her name? She seems perfect for you. You two would make a cute couple.”  
“Eww no!” I said, “You know how I am about girls.”  
Brett laughed and said, “Lover boy!”  
I elbowed him and we almost swerved off the road laughing. However, on the inside I was questioning myself. Was this what love felt like?   
So that’s basically the story of how I met Lilly. I know it seems really cliché, but that’s pretty much how it happened. Maybe I’ll write more memory entries like this, it really helped me, to talk about Lilly. Until next time. Signed,   
Alastaire Boo


	11. Chapter 11

June 4, 2005  
Dear Diary,  
Wow, today has been a crazy day! Brett and I barely escaped with our lives. Before I rant about it, I’d better explain what happened.  
The thunderstorm finally cleared up in the morning, and Brett and I were eager to get started on our hike to E. Gadd’s research bunker. It was only about a day’s walk from my house so we figured that if we got there by the early evening and broke Lilly out later that night, we could be back by tomorrow night.  
I was so excited at the thought of getting Lilly back, that I could hardly think straight. I had barely considered E. Gadd and Luigi in my plan, but that was also partly because I figured they’d be asleep. I was so excited, in fact, I woke Brett up at 5:30 in the morning just to get started. Brett may be happy-go-lucky ninety percent of the time, but he’s not much of a morning person. I learned that soon enough.  
“Brett come on, wake up,” I said trying to shake him awake, “The thunderstorm cleared up, and we need to get started today!”  
“Too… early,” Brett mumbled, curling up in the bed he made on the floor of the little cave we found.  
“Come on Brett!” I urged, shaking him harder, “The bunker is only a day’s walk away. We NEED to get Lilly back!  
“Mmmph, nooo,” Brett muttered, turning over, still half asleep.  
“BRETT!!”I yelled, shaking him even harder.  
“TOO EARLY!!” Brett screamed, jolting awake and pushing me off his shoulders and across the floor of the cave into a wall.  
“Oww…” I muttered, rubbing my head.  
Brett, now fully awake, ran over to my side.  
“Oh my gosh, Alastaire are you alright? I’m so sorry!” Brett said as he checked where my arm had been bandaged, “Did you hit your arm?” he asked.  
“No my arm’s fine,” I replied, “I hit my head, but it’s fine.”  
Brett tried to check my head, but I pushed him away.  
“No really, I’m fine,” I said.  
“I’m really sorry,” Brett apologized again, “I didn’t mean to hit you, I’m just not much of a morning person.”  
“Don’t worry,” I replied, “Neither am I. But on a side note, that was a ridiculously hard push! With force like that, we’d never have to worry about wild animals!”  
Brett laughed and said, “I guess so Alastaire. But you know I’m not really much of a hitter.”  
He was right. Brett would rather be eaten alive trying to make friends with a wild animal than actually try and fight it off.  
I was about to make a smart remark, but just then I noticed my stomach growling. “Hey Brett,” I said, “I’m hungry, what do you say to some breakfast? There should be some granola bars in my backpack.”  
Brett just stood there and looked at me nervously.  
“Brett, what did you do this time?” I asked, annoyed.  
“I may or may not have eaten all the food in the middle of the night,” Brett said, looking down at the ground.  
I facepalmed so hard. “Brett you moron, I’m gonna flipping strangle you!” I shouted at him, “Why would you do that?!?! Now we have nothing to eat!!”  
“I’m sorry Alastaire,” Brett said sheepishly, “I was just SO hungry.”  
I facepalmed even harder, “Oh my God Brett,” I said, almost laughing at the stupidity of the situation, “When aren’t you hungry? You’re just lucky that the bunker is only a day’s walk away, and we don’t have to go three weeks in the woods without food.”  
We both stood there laughing for a few seconds, until Brett said, “Well since we aren’t eating anything, why don’t we get a move on and start walking?”  
“Sure,” I replied, “But you’re carrying both bags as punishment for eating all our food.”  
“WHAT?!? NO!!” Brett whined, “I’m not doing that!”   
“You want some cheese with that whine?” I remarked.  
“No Alastaire, I’m not doing it!” Brett continued whining.  
“Yes you are,” I said, handing him the bags, “You should have enough energy to do it after you ATE ALL OUR FOOD!”   
“I’m sorry, I was hungry!” Brett protested.  
“Just take the bags.” I said, “Then MAYBE I’ll forgive you. MAYBE.”  
“Fine, fine, fine,” Brett said as he took the bags, “I’ll do it, but I won’t like it.”  
“I never said you had to like it.” I replied, “Now let’s get a move on. I want to be there by sundown.”  
Brett groaned and walked out of the entrance to the cave. “Brett you may my friend, but I swear, you’ll drive me crazy one of these days,” I mumbled as I followed him.  
Brett whipped his head around and said, “You really think that Alastaire? We’re friends? Finally, after all these years you admit we’re friends!!! YAAAAAAAAY!!!!” Brett proceeded to run up and bear hug/tackle me.  
“Brett, Brett, st-OOF,” I said as he tackled me, “I’m against hugging, and you know that. Plus I never said we were friends.”  
“Yes you did,” Brett said, “Deep down you know it.”  
“Brett don’t be weird,” I replied, “and get back to carrying those bags!”  
Brett picked the bags up, this time without hesitation. I guess me saying I was his friend –MAYBE- cheered him up. He flew off ahead of me. I groaned and said to myself, “This is for you Lilly, all for you.”  
I didn’t want to leave Brett alone for too long (you never know how that’s gonna end up), so I flew up to where Brett was. He was just walking along, stopping to chase every butterfly and sniff every flower. “Yay, Grass!!” he shouted as he rolled around in the grass like a dog.  
“Brett,” I said as I facepalmed, “what the heck are you doing?”  
“The grass here is so soft!!” he shouted in reply.  
“Brett I wanna be there by sundown,” I said.  
“BUT THE GRASS IS SO SOFT!!!” he whined.  
I sighed. I just stood there and watched him for a minute. It was so funny how he just rolled around without a care in the world, while I was standing there with what felt like the weight of the world on my shoulders. I tried not to laugh, but eventually, I couldn’t hold it in anymore. I burst out laughing.  
“Brett, you’re gonna kill me one of these days,” I said in between laughs.  
Brett didn’t seem to hear me, and eventually, I was laughing so hard that I fell down on the grass and started rolling around too.  
Brett just laughed at me and said, “Finally, you decided to join in on something fun!”  
“Brett, I didn’t choose to do this. You made me!” I replied.  
“I didn’t make you do anything!” Brett laughed, “You could have chosen to not laugh if you wanted to!”  
“Oh my God Brett,” I said exasperatedly.  
We just rolled in the grass laughing for what seemed like hours, until I said, “Come on Brett, I want to be at the bunker by sundown.”  
Brett grabbed the bags and started walking. I followed after him.  
After an uneventful, albeit hungry, day of walking, we finally reached the spot where the bunker should be.  
I looked up from the map and said, “This is where the map says the bunker should be. Brett, do you see anything?”   
“Nope,” Brett replied, “just woods.”  
“This is great,” I grumbled, “just great.”  
I looked around. I had been expecting a building of some type, seeing that the last time I was anywhere near this place, I was inside of a vacuum or trapped inside a painting (that sucked, by the way). But instead, I was greeted by more trees and a slight clearing in my immediate area. Brett was looking around in the trees nearby.  
“Are you sure we’re in the right place, Alastaire?” Brett asked.  
“Of course I am Brett,” I replied, “this is where the map says the bunker should be, and I am a modern day Christopher Columbus.”  
“But didn’t Christopher Columbus think he was in India when he was really in the Caribbean?” Brett questioned.  
“Brett, be quiet!” I said.  
“If you say so ‘Christopher Columbus’,” Brett replied sarcastically.  
“BRETT!!” I snapped.  
“Fine, fine, fine,” Brett replied, “But if I die out here, I’m- HEY LOOK A HATCH!!!”  
“Brett, what are you going on about now?” I said, annoyed.  
“THERE”S A HATCH OUT HERE!!” Brett screamed excitedly. Here we go, Brett was getting into one of his “moods” again. I walked over to where he was standing, and indeed, there was a hatch. It was round and slightly raised, with a metal wheel attached to it. Emblazoned below it was the letters E and G in scrawling print, with a fancy border of turning gears around it.  
Brett was excitedly jabbering on about the hatch, “Where do you think it goes?” he said excitedly, “maybe it goes to a secret military base, or to a lost city, or MAYBE TO NARNIA!! ALASTAIRE IT GOES TO NARNIA!!! WE’RE GONNA BE KINGS OF NARNIA!!”  
He started spinning in a circle, chanting, “WE’RE GONNA BE KINGS OF NARNIA, WE’RE GONNA BE KINGS OF NARNIA, WE-  
“BRETT!!” I snapped, interrupting his song, “No the hatch does not go to Narnia!”  
Brett looked disappointed.  
“Do you see those letters?” I continued, “E and G: E. Gadd. This is the hatch to E. Gadd’s bunker. This is where Lilly is.”  
It was already after sundown, so I floated over to the hatch and tried to open it. It wouldn’t budge. I tried again, the same result.  
“Brett,” I ordered, “Get over here and help me open this hatch. We’ve got to rescue Lilly.”  
Brett darted over to help, and after a few pulls, the wheel turned and the hatch opened revealing a ladder descending into a hole of inky blackness.  
“I’ll go down first,” I whispered.  
Brett nodded and I started going down the ladder. Brett was leaning over the hole watching me go down.  
After what felt like hours of climbing, I finally got to the bottom of the ladder. The room that greeted me was beyond dark (I couldn’t see past the hole of moonlight from the hatch), and I couldn’t tell how far it stretched.  
Suddenly I heard a slip and a crash. I looked up just in time to see Brett slip off the ladder and come crashing down on top of me with a thud.  
“Brett you idiot get off of me!” I tried to say, but it came out as more of a muffled scream.  
Brett looked around in the dark (he had closed the hatch on his way –er fall down) before noticing that he was right on top of me. He quickly jumped off of me and turned to help me up.  
“I’m so sorry Alastaire,” he quickly apologized, “I just slipped off the ladder, and I didn’t realize you were right underneath me.”  
“What else is new, fatty?” I said getting myself up off the ground and brushing the dust off of me. “You closed the hatch on the way down, now how are we supposed to get back up?”  
Brett just looked around at the darkness before I growled, “Brett hand me a flashlight. I can’t see a thing in here now that you’ve closed the hatch.”  
Luckily, Brett hadn’t forgotten to bring my backpack on his way down, and he handed a flashlight to me, grabbing another one for himself. I flicked mine on and looked around in the dim light. We were in a small room, covered floor to ceiling in white tiles. A set of white metal doors stood at the opposite end of the room, the glass panels on them showing only darkness beyond. Next to me was a switch.  
Brett was over on the other side of the room trying to open the doors.  
“They’re locked,” he said.   
“Shhh, not so loud!” I whispered over to him, “We don’t want anyone knowing we’re here. Now, I think I‘ve found the lights. Wait and-  
Before I could finish my sentence, Brett was already over at the light switch panel. I reached out my hand to stop him, but he had already flipped the switch. I was about to scream at him for being such an idiot, but I was interrupted by the buzz of a siren. We both looked up and saw a red sign over the doors light up, saying, “Decontamination process initiated.”  
“Decontamination process?” I whispered, “Wha-  
I was interrupted by a heavy stream of water coming from the ceiling. I turned around to flip the switch off, but was knocked into Brett when a blast of what felt like dry shampoo hit me. A dryer turned on for a few seconds, then stopped as the sign lit up saying, “Decontamination process complete. You may proceed.”  
Brett rushed through the doors ahead of me. I got up, stood there for a few seconds feeling like I was going to vomit, and then followed Brett through the doors.  
“What was that?” I said as I went through the doors. “It felt like I -. I stopped mid-sentence. Brett was just standing there, shining his flashlight straight ahead. I walked up to him, about to ask what the heck he was looking at, then stopped.  
We were standing in a long hallway, lined with doors on either side. It was dimly lit with a glowing red sign at the other end, marked “Laboratory”. This was creepy by itself, but what scared us the most was what the hallway looked like. Plaster had fallen off in chunks and was lying on the floors, any frames or diagrams on the wall had fallen off, with their shredded remains strewn about the hallway. Smashed glass and wood lined the edges of the hall. The lights above hung limply by a few wires and struggled to give off a red light. They must have been on emergency power.  
“I don’t think anyone’s home,” Brett whispered.  
“Neither do I,” I replied.  
We stood there for a few seconds, dumbfounded before we heard a loud “click” behind us. We turned around to see the doors had shut behind us.  
Brett looked at them in the dim light for a minute before he whimpered, “Alastaire, what made that mark?”  
I shined my light at the doors, revealing a huge claw mark across them. This wasn’t just a mark on the surface; actual bits of metal had been curled up along the mark’s edges as if whatever had made the mark had used all of its strength trying to get through the door.  
I stood there, horrified by what I saw for a moment, then turned to Brett and whispered, “Let’s hope we never find out.”   
We looked at each other, deciding what to do, until I said, “We need to check these rooms. Even if E. Gadd is gone, his test subjects and whatever made that mark might still be here. You check the left side of the hall, I’ll check the right.”  
“C-can we not split up?” Brett asked, his voice quivering, “This place scares me.”  
“Brett we have to,” I replied, “We need to cover all of these rooms as fast as possible, and being together would slow us down.”  
Brett still looked scared out of his mind, so I said “Remember, I’m just across the hall. And if you see anything, scream like all heck just broke loose.”  
This seemed to calm Brett down a little bit, so we split up and went to the doors on our side of the hallway. I stood there, staring at the handle of the door in front of me. Did I really want to do this? Then I thought of Lilly, possibly trapped in this place, and I realized I had to.  
“For Lilly” I murmured, and turned the handle.   
I stepped into utter blackness. I flicked on my light and looked around. This looked like E. Gadd’s private study. Or, rather, it had been. The same carnage from the hallway followed into this room. The walls were covered in more of the claw marks, but all different sizes and depths. Shredded papers and files were scattered all over the floor. Furniture was smashed, and the large desk in the middle of the room was flipped over. All the drawers were pulled out and supplies were all over the floor around the desk. But besides the carnage, nothing of importance to me seemed to be here. I was about to turn and walk out when I heard a door creak open. I expected it to be just a closet, but the door led to another room. I walked in.  
I must have been in those rooms for hours, although I can’t really tell. Time seemed to lose relevance while I walked. Sometimes I felt like I had been exploring for days, sometimes it felt like only minutes had passed since I turned that first handle. I walked downstairs and climbed up ladders, and I went through what could only be described as a maze of rooms. There were rooms branching off of rooms and narrow hallways, and endless blackness and silence. How anyone could stay oriented in those rooms is beyond me. They all had been trashed, however, some worse than others. All the while though, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was being watched. Combined with the carnage I was seeing, this really creeped me out. Sometimes I’d hear footsteps behind me, or see something moving in the darkness, just beyond my field of vision. But whenever I turned around to look or stopped to listen, nothing was there. It really had me paranoid.   
I walked around like this until my only concern was getting out. I was hopelessly lost in this maze. The silence was really starting to get to me. I couldn’t stand it anymore. Then my flashlight battery went out. I was about to cry when I heard an ear-piercing shriek fill the air. At first, I thought it was Brett, but then I realized, Brett didn’t scream like that. I took off running. I didn’t care where I went, as long as it was away from that noise. All I could think was “It’s following me. It has to be.”  
I ran and ran until I stumbled back out into the dim red light of the main hallway. I was running so fast that I couldn’t stop, and I tumbled headfirst into Brett, who was standing there, watching the door where I came from.  
I got up and started apologizing to Brett.   
“Sorry for knocking into you. It’s just that there was this noise and it freaked me out and-   
“Relax,” Brett said, “It’s fine, I-  
Brett stopped in mid-sentence and his face went pale. He dropped his flashlight and stood there with this mouth hanging open, his eyes looking past me.  
“What is it?” I asked.   
“Behind you.” Brett whimpered, barely any sound coming out of his mouth.   
Every muscle in my body tensed up, and a chill went down my spine as I turned around to see a tall pale creature staring down at me. Before I could do anything, it moved its arm and everything went black.  
I opened my eyes. My vision was fuzzy and I felt myself bouncing up and down. I turned to see Brett’s limp body dangling next to mine. Then it all went black again.  
When I woke up again, my vision was clear. I looked around groggily and noticed Brett asleep next to me. We were in a small room, illuminated by a single overhanging bulb. I was so thankful to not have to look through that red-tinged light or a flashlight beam. I floated over to Brett and shook him awake.  
“Brett, come on. We have to-   
Just then I was interrupted by a snakelike hiss. I turned around to see that same pale creature (which I now realized was some sort of albino snake thing in a jumpsuit). It slithered out of the shadows and hissed, “The Master will see you now. Follow me.”  
Before we could do anything, the creature grabbed our arms and half escorted, half dragged us out of the room and down the hallway outside.  
“What’s going on? I demand to know!” I said firmly. The snake creature ignored me.  
“I’LL HAVE YOU KNOW I’M ALASTAIRE BOO AND-  
“SSSSSSSILENCE!” the snake hissed, “The Master demands complete silence unless spoken to in the throne room.”   
“Throne room? Wha-  
I was cut off as the snake put its tail over my mouth and swung open a set of metal doors. The doors swung open and revealed a large room with a long rug running its length. The rug was lined by shrapnel torches and along the wall stood creatures beyond imagination. Animals with horrible mutations, scar wounds, and extra limbs, these creatures looked absolutely horrifying. I turned and looked straight ahead.  
Ahead of me was a large mound of rubble arranged into a stepped platform design. A large, leather office chair, ripped off its base, stood mounted atop the rubble. On it sat the strangest and most terrifying thing I have ever seen.  
There, curled atop the office chair sat a cat of some sort. It looked like an inverted tiger, black with orange stripes. It also had teeth like a saber tooth tiger, but a black ooze dripped from them. The claws were the strangest thing about it. Long, black claws, that seemed to leave a burn mark on the place where they landed.  
The saber tooth tiger thing looked at us, with its flaming orange eyes, and I could see its gaze widen. The tiger jumped off its chair and paced down to meet us. It stood looking at us for what seemed like an hour, fangs dripping black ooze, before saying,   
“I see you’ve stumbled upon our little home.”  
I stood there for a few seconds before asking, “Who are you? Where am I? What are all of you guys? And what are you doing here?”  
The tiger looked at us before turning to the snake and saying “Excellent. Good work Oniare. You are dismissed.”  
The snake, who had been standing there the whole time, bowed its head and quickly slithered away.  
The tiger then turned to Brett and me, and said, “I am the Master. You are in what used to be the scientist Elvin Gadd’s laboratory. We are all of his experiments gone wrong. Experiments in gene splicing, DNA mutation, radiation testing, you name it. We broke free of our caging one day, and forced Gadd and his assistants out. Now we rule in the darkness. Our own safe haven, cut off from the evils of the outside world.”  
I replied, confused, “But what does any of this have to do with us?”  
The Master said, almost in song, “You see, we’ve been down here for ages, and our supply of food is running out. We feed on radiation, and you two seem to be positively dripping with radioactive material.”  
I looked at the faint purple glow surrounding me, and then back at the Master.   
“So you’re going to kill us for food?!?!” I questioned angrily.  
“Calm down, calm down,” the Master said, keeping its cool, “We’re not going to kill you; we’re not animals, man. We’re just going to, well… possibly enslave you for life as our food source.”  
Brett looked sick. I was horrified. I shouted back angrily, “You can’t do that! You can’t just take someone prisoner and enslave them for life! I’ll have you know that I’m Alastaire Boo, King of-  
“SILENCE!” the Master hissed, swatting me with their paw. My whole face felt like it was on fire and I saw a purple drop hit the floor. All the mutations in the room seemed to be on edge, waiting to see if Brett and I would be torn to shreds. But we weren’t. Instead, the Master let out a deafening roar and said, “You may be king in the world above, but down here you are NOTHING!!”   
A drop of black ooze, flew from his mouth as he spoke, and I saw it hit the floor and burn it with a sizzle. Acid. That’s what had hit me.   
I wiped my face with a sting and looked up and glared at the Master. Nothing?!?! How could he say something like that to ME, especially after all I’ve been through in the past month?! I’m not normally one to show emotion, especially anger (not after what happened after the ball) but this, combined with Lilly, and this crazy journey was just too much. My depression has two extremes, fury and despair. I’ve learned to bottle both up over time, but sometimes circumstances get too crazy for me, and I just explode. It’s like I transform into another boo. This happened to be one of those times.  
“Nothing?” I gritted, “Nothing?! NOTHING?!?! HOW DARE YOU SAY THAT TO ME?” I exploded and jumped at the Master. I probably could have killed him there and then, but I was only able to get one punch in before Brett and two of the Master’s guards jumped after me and pulled me off. I looked up while struggling with the guards to see my punch had hit the Master on the nose and caused him to bleed. Seeing that blood made something animal inside of me crave more. I wanted to see him suffer, see him cry out in pain. In my rage/bloodlust I almost pulled myself free, but then some part of me realized how insane what I was thinking was. I almost wanted to throw up. I was still angry, so while I just was held there, panting and growling.  
The Master seemed slightly taken aback, but he quickly hid it as he wiped his face, looked up at me, snickered and said,  
“This one’s got a fire to him; I like it. I’ll tell you what. Besides being hungry, we’re also TERRIBLY BOOOOOORED. If you can entertain us, maybe I won’t allow you two to be eaten alive as punishment for punching me. Do we have a deal?”  
Without thinking, I reached out and shook the paw he had extended towards me. “Deal,” I said.  
“Great,” the Master purred, “You have two hours. Now get out.”  
“Two hours?” I protested, “But-  
“NOW GET OUT!” the Master Growled  
We were lead back down the hallway and into the room we had been in earlier. Oniare, the albino snake, turned toward us and said, “You know, I’d almost feel bad for you if you weren’t food.” With that he turned and left, locking the door behind him.  
“Well this is just great,” I said, leaning up against a corner of the wall, “We have two hours to come up with an act that might not even save our lives. Just great.”  
Brett looked up and said, “No offense Alastaire, but it’s kind of your fault. You didn’t have to take the deal.”  
“What was I supposed to do?” I snapped back, “Let us be eaten alive?!”  
“You were the one who punched him in the face,” Brett replied.  
He was right. I was the one who got us into this mess, and now we could potentially be eaten alive because of me. I had to get us out of this.  
“Well, are we gonna spend our two hours arguing, or are we gonna come up with something to possibly save our skins?” Brett questioned.  
“What should we do? It HAS to be good if we want to have a chance of living.” I replied.  
“Well your crown is supposed to be magical, why don’t you use that?” Brett suggested.  
I facepalmed so hard. For a thirty-something-year-old Boo, Brett has the mental maturity level of a five-year-old.  
“Brett, aren’t you a little old to be believing in fairy tales?” I questioned.  
“Come on,” Brett persisted, “I was way too far away to hear you when you got attacked by those Volcanines, it could have only been your crown being magical.”  
“Brett, my crown is not magical in any way,” I said, “And even if it were, how the heck would I know how to use it?”  
“Alright,” Brett said, “we won’t use the crown. I still think it’s magical though.”  
I shook my head. Brett just looked around for a few minutes before saying, “The whole magic thing gave me an idea. Why don’t you do your magic routine?”  
Not that. Anything but that.  
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Brett,” I said, trying to cover up.  
Brett knew he had hit something. He knows when something he says bothers me, and he loves to exploit that. He smiled and said, “Yes you do. Remember when we were in high school and you did magic tricks in front of the whole school?”  
All the memories came flooding back to me. I could see all of their faces, hear them laughing at me, and I could feel my face turning red with embarrassment just thinking about it. I wanted to crawl into a hole and hide.  
“Brett no, I’m not doing that!” I snapped.  
“You have to! It’s our only option!” Brett pleaded.  
“No, I’m not doing it!” I argued, “It brings back too many memories!”  
“DO YOU WANT TO BE EATEN ALIVE?!” Brett shouted. He doesn’t normally shout.  
I stopped and thought for a moment. If this is what meant the difference between a horrible death and possibly living, then I would have to do it.  
“Alright, I’ll do it,” I said flatly.  
“YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!” Brett shouted, “WE’RE GONNA LIVE!”  
“But, only if you help me.” I continued, “Besides, I think I have a way that this could get us out of here.”  
Brett agreed, and we spent the better part of our two hours coming up with a plan on what to do. I would be the one doing most of the magic tricks, and Brett would be my technician/ assistant. Our idea was to run through some basic magic tricks, (card tricks, disappearing box, endless handkerchief, etc.), all courtesy of things found in our backpacks. Then I would end with a hypnosis trick I had learned recently. I had never tried it on anyone, but I was pretty sure I could remember it, and it was our only hope of getting out of here alive. I didn’t want to test it on Brett because he would be no use as a co-host if he was hypnotized.  
We had just decided what to do and were running through the performance when Oniare came in.  
“Times up,” he hissed, “The Master would like to see if you held up your end of the deal. Follow me.”  
Oniare opened the door and led us down the hallway. This time, however, instead of going straight like last time, he took a turn that I hadn’t noticed was there before. He led us down another long hallway until we reached a door. He opened it, leading us into some sort of storage room. Crates and boxes had been arranged into a makeshift stage in the center of the room, and fold out chairs had been set up in front of the stage. The Master sat in the very center of the front row examining his claws. He looked up and watched me go by.   
Showtime. Brett managed to get ahold of the spotlight they were using to light the stage and turned it off as I ran up onto center stage.  
“Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, horrifying mutants of all ages,” Brett rambled in some type of showtime voice, “I now present to you the one, the only…”  
He dramatically paused.  
“ALASTAIRE BOO!!!” He flicked on the spotlight as I ran up onstage. I turned to the crowd and began to say, “Good evening and welcome to the show. I’m Alastaire Boo and tonight I’ll-  
“GET ON WITH THE SHOW ALREADY!” someone shouted from the back row.  
Under normal circumstances, I would have shot back with some sarcastic comment or joke, but I was in no mood to be risking my life over somebody’s ignorant comment. So I just moved on and started the show.  
“Alright,” I said, “for my first trick, I’ll be starting off simple with a basic card trick. For this, I will require a volunteer from the audience. Anyone?”  
Nobody volunteered.  
So went the rest of the show. I did trick after trick, and the audience seemed to get more bored with each one, especially the Master. That made me nervous. But the show must go on, we had to get out of here alive. Then we came to the final trick.  
“For my final trick,” I said, “I will be doing something new. I will attempt to hypnotize you all.”   
That seemed to interest the crowd. Everyone looked up with interest, even the Master. Seeing all of them, interested made me even more nervous. This had to work, it just had to. It was our only hope of getting out of here alive, and if it failed, well…  
I just closed my eyes and started to talk. At first, I couldn’t tell if it was actually working, or if the audience was just playing along. But at the end of all the steps, I had a stone army of mutants seated in front of me. Their eyes stared straight ahead, and their pupils took up almost their entire eye. I waved my hand around, nothing happened. It had worked!  
Brett came bounding over to me. He gave me a huge hug and almost knocked me over saying, “You did it Alastaire, we’re free!”  
“Not so loud,” I whispered, “Too much noise and they’ll wake up. Now, do you see that door over there?”  
Brett nodded.  
“That’s a different door than the one we came in from. If we go out that way we might be able to find a way out. Follow me.”  
Brett nodded again, and we tiptoed past the crowd. We opened the door silently and slipped out into the same hallway we had originally come in through. The red-lit walls and war-torn floors seemed like almost a cheerful sight compared to what we had just seen. But in our joy, we had forgotten to close the door softly. It shut behind us with a loud slam that echoed through the hallway. I turned around in horror to hear a huge roar come from within the storage room.  
“RUN!” I shouted.  
I have experienced many terrifying things in my life, but none so far have come close to the sheer terror of running down that hallway. I have never run so fast in my life, everything was a delirium of adrenaline and fear. You could hear the panting and growling behind you, and feel the hot breath of the mutants on your back. The floor seemed to shake with every step they took. Once, the Master tried to grab me with his claws. He missed, but I could feel the wind on my back as they swiped past me. We ran into the decontamination room and scrambled up the ladder.  
“Come on climb!” I urged Brett as we raced up the ladder. We tumbled out into the light.   
“SHUT IT SHUT IT SHUT IT!!” I said, racing back to the lid of the bunker entrance. With a huge push, we swung the metal cover over the hole just as the Master leaped up to try and grab us. We heard his head hit the metal with a loud thud.  
We wasted no time in turning the lock to make sure they could never get up here. I fell over on top of Brett, panting in relief. He rolled off to the side, and we just lay there, panting and looking around. I realized that we had come out into the light of early morning. Our whole adventure had taken only one night! We lay on the grass panting for a few more minutes, before I said, “Come on Brett, we need to get going. We have to find Lilly, and I suggest we put as much distance between us and that hole as possible.  
That’s exactly what we’re doing now. We found an old trail that leads away from the bunker, and we’re currently following it as I write. I’ve been writing for the better part of the past three hours, and I think it’s about time I stopped and take a rest. Until next time.

 

Signed,  
Alastaire Boo


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oh boy, some romance. Please don't hate me, I'm bad at writing romance to this day.

June 5, 2005  
Dear Diary,  
Oh my God, the floor of this cave- wait no scratch that- hole in the ground is disgusting. Brett and I had been walking all day yesterday, we got lost, and it got dark a lot quicker than we thought it would. So we were forced to take shelter in this hole in the ground that we found. Brett fell asleep almost as soon as we got inside, but the floor here is all wet and gross and I just couldn’t seem to fall asleep. So here I am, laying in the dirt, writing in my diary. Since I couldn’t fall asleep, I started thinking about Lilly- where she could be, what was happening to her, and if I could get to her-; but most of all I was thinking about all the memories I have with Lilly. This made me feel a little bit better, so I decided to write one down. This is the story of Lilly and I’s first date.  
It was the fall of 1991. I had just started my senior year of college. I was still struggling with depression, and figuring out who I was. It literally felt like a civil war going on inside of me. The only things that kept me sane at this time were Brett (because well, you know, Brett is Brett) and Lilly. I had hung out with Lilly a few times since the time I first got her number, and it really helped me lighten up. She was pretty, she was funny, she was smart, and on top of it all she seemed to be the only one besides Brett who didn’t seem to care that I was a depressed, sometimes- SOMETIMES- suicidal maniac. When I was around her, I didn’t feel judged, I felt like I could be me and she wouldn’t care. As a result, I was a happy-go-lucky puppy, as she liked to call me. I was well on my way to falling in love with her. But I still wasn’t quite sure of myself, or quite sure how to tell her. As far as I could tell, she only saw me as a friend. How did I tell her how I felt, and what if she rejected me? This kept me from telling her how I felt, until one day.  
I was sitting in my dorm, doing nothing, when the phone rang. I picked it up, and it was my dad. Of all the people to call me, it just HAD to be him. I was NOT in the mood to talk to him. But, not wanting another, angrier call later, I picked it up.  
“Ugh, hey Dad, what do you want?” I groaned.  
“DON’T ‘UGH HEY DAD’ ME!” I heard my father yell at the receiver. I could practically feel the spit flying out of his mouth. “YOU WILL ADDRESS ME PROPERLY!”  
“Fine,” I growled to myself. “Hello, Father,” I practically spat.  
“That’s better,” he said sarcastically, “But anyway, on to why I called you. As you know, it’s October, and that means the annual Autumn Ball is coming up on the 31st.”  
“Dang it,” I grumbled. I had completely forgotten about that ball. It’s not like I had wanted to go anyway.  
“What was that?” my father questioned me.  
“Nothing father,” I responded.  
“It better not have been,” he said before continuing to say, “And, you’re turning twenty-one this year which means you need to bring a date. I expect you already have something planned out?”  
Without thinking, I said, “Yeah, of course I do.”  
“Great,” my father responded, “What’s her name?”  
Dang it. What was I gonna do now? I couldn’t make something up, he’d know. I had to think of something, and fast. I paused.  
“Hello?” my father teased, “Don’t tell me you don’t have a date. That would be breaking over 200 years of tradition.”  
I didn’t know what else to say, so I just blurted out, “Lilly. Her name is Lilly.”  
“Great.” He said, “I’ll see you two there.” Then he hung up.  
I hung up the phone and the flopped down onto my bed and stared at the ceiling. “Great job Alastaire,” I thought to myself, “Great job.” What was I supposed to do now? Because I hadn’t been thinking, I made a huge mistake, and now I would either have to call Lilly and ask her to come to the ball with me, or face my father without a date and break 200and something years of tradition. If I asked Lilly to go with me, she might say no, and that could possibly ruin my chances with her. But if I showed up without a date, I would have to face my father, and that was something I did NOT want to do. I didn’t want to ruin my chances with Lilly, but I didn’t want to explain myself to my father either. I really just wanted to stay at school. But that wasn’t an option. Not knowing what else to do, I decided to call Brett and ask for advice. At least with him, I could get advice from a person who wouldn’t judge me, or reject me. So I called him and explained the situation to him.  
“Man, this is kind of stupid,” Brett said over the phone, “You should just ask Lilly to go to the dance with you.”  
“You don’t understand,” I said anxiously, “What if she says no to me?”  
“I don’t understand why this is such a big-. Brett stopped talking for a second. Then he continued, “I know why you don’t want Lilly to say no to you. You are in love with her! I knew it!”  
“Brett I’m not in love with her,” I tried to continue, “I don’t know what-  
Brett interrupted me, “LOVER BOOOOOOOOOOOOOY!” he shouted so loud that you could almost hear him without putting him on speaker.  
“Brett shut up!” I said, “I’m not in love with Lilly, I just don’t feel like being rejected right now.”  
“Because you love her,” Brett joked.  
“Brett shut up,” I demanded a second time,   
“Well, would you rather have your father ranting at you for breaking 200 years of tradition?” Brett asked.  
“No,” I replied.  
“Then ask Lilly.” Brett said, “It’s not going to hurt you, and you guys can still be friends, even if she says no.”  
I couldn’t argue with that. “Alright,” I said, “But if this backfires, it’s on you, Brett.”   
“Alright, LOVER BOY!” Brett said before hanging up.  
“Brett I hate you,” I said into the receiver before realizing he wasn’t there.  
I hung up the phone and tried to work up the courage to call Lilly. I stood, staring at my reflection. I did love Lilly, but I couldn’t get the courage to call and ask. What if she did say no? I stood there like this for five minutes before deciding to just call because what the heck, why not? I dialed her number and waited. Finally, Lilly picked up.  
“Hello?” she asked into the receiver.  
“Oh hi Lilly, It’s Alastaire.” I replied.  
“Oh hey Alastaire,” she said, “Did you need something?”  
“Uh yeah actually,” I said shyly, “I was calling to ask if… well if you would… uh…”  
Lilly laughed to herself before saying, “Spit it out, man!”  
“I was wondering if you would be my date for the Autumn Ball at the palace?” I blurted out.  
“Wait what,” Lilly asked, “I didn’t hear what you were saying.”  
“Well the Autumn Ball at the palace is coming up, and I was wondering if you would be my date for it? You’re the only girl I feel comfortable taking, and I kind of already told my dad you’d be coming” I asked sheepishly.  
“Haha, I’d be honored to go, but what day is it?” Lilly asked.  
“It’s on October 31st,” I replied.  
“Sure I’ll go then, I guess, Lilly said, (I don’t know if she could hear my “YES!!” over the phone) “I have no class that day, and it sounds like fun.”   
“Uh ok then, I’ll see you then,” I said.  
“Alright, see ya,” Lilly said.  
“See ya,” I said before hanging up.  
I hung up the phone and collapsed down on my bed in relief. I was so glad she had said yes. I felt like I was on top of the world. But then I realized, that this would make it seem like I loved her. I would have to tell her. But how? I still wasn’t sure whether she felt the same way about me as I did about her. And what if she already had a boyfriend? She had never talked about one, but she was very charming, and in my anxiety, anything seemed possible. I laid there, the rest of the night trying to put my fears to rest.  
The days passed quickly until Halloween and that stupid ball. That morning I had no class, so Brett took the opportunity to come over and give me his dating advice, and some type of motivational lecture thing.  
“Alright man,” Brett said, “Today’s the big day. You gotta be stylish, suave, other adjectives I can’t think of.”  
“Brett,” I tried to interrupt.  
“Be cool,” he continued   
“Brett!” I tried again, a little bit louder.  
“But not too cool, then you just seem like a jerk.” He continued again. Was he deaf?  
“BRETT,” I tried even louder.  
“Oh and don’t forget to be nice, but not too nice, then you seem like you’re trying to push it. Get her jacket and stuff like that.”  
“BRETT YOU IDIOT SHUT UP!!” I shouted. It was either this or grabbing him and tackling him.  
“What?” he turned around and asked. He was deaf.  
“Thanks for the help man, but I’ve got this,” I said, trying to fake confidence.  
“Are you sure man?” Brett asked, “I’m always here.”  
“Yes, I am Brett,” I said pushing him out the door, “Now out.”  
“Are you sure man? I-, Brett tried to say. I didn’t get all of it though.  
“OUT!” I said pushing him out the door and slamming it behind him. I just needed to think before I went to this ball.   
Thinking is exactly what I did. Ninety percent of my time before the ball was spent working up enough courage to actually go. What if things went horribly? What if my dad hated Lilly? And how the heck was I supposed to tell Lilly how I felt about her? I had decided that this would be the night that I confessed my feelings for Lilly, but what if I messed up? And what if she didn’t feel the same way?  
These were all questions swirling through my head as I got ready for the ball. Finally, I looked over at my clock and realized I had to get ready. I threw on a white dress shirt, purple dress vest, and black bowtie. I, didn’t bother putting on a blazer, I was too poor for that (my father never gave me money and I couldn’t get a job).  
After getting ready, I jumped into my junky car from 198something (again, poor). I drove over to Lilly’s dorm, where she was waiting outside for me. She looked absolutely beautiful, wearing a purple short-sleeved dress with fake diamonds around the collar. I looked at her for a second, but then quickly looked away. Was I staring? I pretended to be looking at the road ahead of me, and then turned backed around saying,  
“You look nice. Ready to go?”  
“Yeah,” Lilly said, “just open the car door.”  
“Oh. Yeah. Sorry.” I said awkwardly and flicked open door lock.  
Lilly got in and I started up the car. We were talking awkwardly for the most of the two-hour drive. Eventually, Lilly laughed and said, “I get you’re nervous about the dance and seeing your dad, but lighten up a bit man. It’s just me, no one special.”  
“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” I said quietly. I turned and looked out the window for a second. She was right. I was nervous, but not for the reasons she stated. This whole time, one question had been circling in my mind: “What if she says no?” Lilly was the most beautiful boo I had met, inside and out, and I desperately wanted to tell her how I felt about her. But what if she thought I was weird? I really valued our friendship, but if she rejected me, would we still be able to be friends?   
I turned back around, and we continued talking.   
“Do you think your dad will like me?” Lilly asked. “I mean, I’m no princess, but I do like to have a friendly relationship with boos I meet.”  
“Oh I’m sure he’ll like you,” I said, faking confidence. “Does anyone not like you?”  
“Well, there’s Mark tortellini or whatever his name is, Mindy Johnson, that guy from Blockbuster…”  
“Maybe I was wrong,” I joked, “you seem to have quite there reputation.”  
“Shut up!” she laughed, pushing me.  
I pushed her back, and the car swerved a little bit.  
“Woah, watch the road,” Lilly said.  
“C’mon stop worrying!” I said confidently, “We’re fine!”   
Just then a small rock hit my windshield.  
Lilly looked at me and said, “Told you so.”  
I laughed a little bit and focused back on the road. Although I was faking confidence, I was a nervous wreck inside. Like I said above, I was worried that Lilly would say no, but I had also thought of another reason. My dad. He was crazier than me, I was almost sure of that. But he also seemed to hate anyone that I hung around me. He had just come short of attacking Brett the one time he came over. Even Brett (who loves most people) said there was something wrong with him. He always said it was “Because they weren’t fit to be around royalty,” but I was pretty sure he was just crazy. I had completely forgotten about that since his phone call, but what could I do about it now? If I told Lilly, what would she say? But if my dad reacted that badly to Brett, how would he react to someone I was in love with? There seemed to only be one option: I had to make sure my dad didn’t find out I was in love with Lilly. He couldn’t find out, or well…  
We drove the rest of the way, just talking about random stuff. Eventually, we pulled up at the palace. I just parked on the street (I didn’t want to deal with the people at the gate), and we walked in.  
The ballroom was already filling up with boos, we didn’t look too weird walking in. Some of the richer boos looked at Lilly suspiciously as if wondering what she was doing with the prince. She grabbed my arm, but I turned to her and said, “Don’t worry about them, they’re weird like that.”  
Lilly nodded, and I turned around to walk over to the punch bowl, before bumping into somebody.  
“Oh man, I’m-  
I stopped short and looked up. It was my dad. Dang it.  
“Oh hey dad,” I said, trying to be calm.  
“Ahem,” my dad coughed.   
I groaned inwardly and spat out, “Hello, Father.”   
“Much better,” he said before asking, “I see, you’re here, but where is your date? That girl you were talking about?”  
“Oh yeah,” I said turning back to Lilly, and pushing her forward, “This is Lilly”  
Lilly took a step forward. “Hi, I’m Lilly. Nice to meet you,” she said, extending a hand.  
My dad completely ignored her hand. He looked her over for a second before grunting to himself and saying a very forced, “I’m glad you could come. Enjoy yourself, but I need to talk to Alastaire for a bit.”  
“Um, okay” Lilly responded. “Your Majesty.” She said with a little curtsy before turning around and walking away.  
As soon as she walked away, my dad grabbed me by the collar and growled, “Who is she? Why would you bring someone like HER to this ball?”  
I pushed myself away from my dad and snapped back, “Dad, she’s my friend. I’m 21, stop treating me like I’m 3!”  
“Alastaire,” he said in a baby voice, pretending to care. I hated it when he talked like that. “Are you sure that’s all? Just friends? It seems like you feel a little bit different about her. And remember, you aren’t 21 until November second.”  
I growled. I hated it when he was right. “Let me live my life!” I snapped.  
“Alastaire, she’s a commoner, she isn’t fit to be around you,” he replied, cool as ever.  
“Do I look like I care?” I retorted.  
“Alastaire,” he suddenly said in a voice reminiscent of thunder crashing, “I raised you to be a king, not a puppy dog! I don’t want to see you around her, and that’s final!”  
I just stood there, glaring at him for a second. He was NOT in control of my life. I turned around and stormed out.   
Lilly grabbed my arm as I was walking away and asked, “Are you alright, you were talking to your dad for a while, and you seem pretty angry.”  
“Yeah, I’m fine. You know how my dad is.” I replied. I had told her about my dad, but not the full story.  
Lilly looked at me skeptically.  
“Yes, I am fine,” I repeated.  
“Alright, I’m trusting you on this,” Lilly said, “But if there’s something wrong, tell me. I don’t want you going crazy here.”  
I looked at her and said, “Okay, I will. But what do you want to do now? We’re at this dance, and it should last until midnight at least.”  
Just then we were interrupted by a trumpet blast. I looked up to the front of the room where my father was walking up to a microphone set on the stage where the band was. He tapped on the microphone and then started talking.  
“Ladies and Gentlemen, I would like to welcome you to the 237th Annual Autumn Ball,” he said in that fake voice he uses when talking to his subjects, “I would like to introduce to you my son to initiate the opening ceremonies.”  
I felt a brick drop in my stomach. I hated public speaking and he knew it. I could see him glaring at me, grinning with that smile of his, a mile that would make you want to hide in a hole.  
Lilly looked at me, and so did the rest of the crowd. They split apart and I walked down the center of them. I could feel them all staring at me, and I could feel myself getting sick to my stomach. I wanted to throw up, but I couldn’t.  
I got up in front of the crowd and stood up. My father stepped back and gestured at the microphone. He was smiling, but I could see the sadisticness glisten in his eyes.  
I stepped up and faced the crowd. As soon as I saw them looking at me, threw up a little bit in my mouth. I hope no one saw that, but I could feel them all judging me, seeing if I was fit to be a king. Then I saw Lilly. She was standing in the back row, looking on with a mixture of hope, pride, and worry in her eyes. That made me feel even worse. I could not mess this up.  
I don’t even remember what I said. I just remember chanting some ancient song as we lit some ceremonial torch, and feeling sicker and sicker as the ceremony went on. And during the whole thing, I could almost feel my father glaring at me sadistically. He enjoyed my pain, I was sure of it.  
Just as I thought I couldn’t take anymore and I was going to throw up on stage, the song ended and the torch was lit. I jumped off the stage and ran to the bathroom just in time to barf into the toilet. It wasn’t normal barf either, but a thick, black ooze with chunks in it. Just the sight of it made me want to barf even more.  
I don’t know how long I was in there barfing, but then I heard a knock at the door.  
“Just a minute,” I moaned.  
“Alastaire? Is that you? It’s Lilly.” I heard Lilly say.  
Good, it was Lilly. At least I wouldn’t have to explain myself.  
“Hold on a sec, I’ll be right out,” I replied.  
I got up, flushed the toilet, turned on the sink, washed the barf off my face, and walked out.  
Lilly met me at the door, but suddenly took a step back “Oh God, you smell!” she said, reaching into her purse. She pulled out a bottle of perfume and sprayed it all over me. I coughed as she said, “That won’t mask the smell completely, but it should help. What did you eat?”  
“I don’t know,” I responded, “It was thick and black and chunky.”  
“Eww gross,” she laughed, “You didn’t have to tell me that!”   
“Aww come on,” I joked, “You don’t want to hear my amazing tales of barf?!”  
“No!” she said, laughing, “Oh my gosh Alastaire, I don’t know what I would do without you!”   
I laughed. It felt good to laugh, and that reminded me of what I wanted to tell Lilly. I had to do it.  
But before I could do anything, Lilly dragged me over to the snack tables. I got a couple second glances from Boos who had caught a whiff of my “signature scent”.   
“I am SO hungry!” Lilly exclaimed, “What about you Alastaire?”  
“Uh, no thanks,” I responded, still a bit woozy from barfing so much, “I still feel kind of sick. Maybe I’ll get a glass of punch.”   
Lilly nodded, and I went over to the snack table. On the way, I had to push through a crowd of boos. Since I was still feeling kind of sick, I bumped into more than a few boos. One particular boo I bumped into turned around. It was some snobby looking rich girl.  
“Oh my gosh, I’m so- I tried to say.  
“Jerk!” she exclaimed (in her high pitched valley girl voice), and threw her drink at me, before walking away.  
I blinked and wiped punch off my face. I looked down to see that my clothes were soaking wet from the punch.  
“Great,” I thought, “Now what am I supposed to do?”  
Just then Lilly walked up. “Now I’ll look even worse,” I thought.  
“Woah, what happened to you?” she asked.  
“Punch. Girls.” I said frankly.  
Lilly laughed and said, “Nice job, Mr. Ladies-Man.”  
I just stood there looking embarrassed until Lilly broke the silence and said, “Well I won’t let you have all the fun being the only dork at this dance.”  
Lilly then grabbed a glass of punch and splashed it all over herself.  
“There,” she said, “Now we match perfectly!”  
We stood there laughing for a minute until we heard the band start playing music again.  
“Come on!” Lilly said, pulling me out onto the dance floor.  
We spent pretty much the rest of the night dancing. It was ballroom dancing, so I was actually somewhat good at it, having been forced to take that class when I was younger. Even out of her element and around strangers, Lilly still looked like Cinderella. Did that make me Prince Charming? More like Prince Dorky, I figured. The more time I spent with her the more I thought about what Brett had said. About what my father said. Was I in love with her? Lilly certainly was beautiful, and smart, and funny. But there was more to why I enjoyed being around her that just that. Being with Lilly felt so good. it felt like I could breathe; like a weight had bee lifted off of my shoulders. It felt like a missing piece of my life had been locked back into place. Was this what love felt like? I hadn't experienced much love in my life. But this feeling was better than any other I had felt in my life. I thought back to life before I had met Lilly; I couldn't go back to it. If this was love, then I wanted it. But did she want me? I couldn't imagine why. I mean, of course, I was a prince, and in line to be king, but personality wise I couldn't think why anyone would want to be around me. I was dark, sarcastic, and often depressed. Lilly was light, funny and lively. We were polar opposites.But wasn't there a saying about opposites; opposites attract or whatever? Maybe that was true here.  
At the end of the night, we were headed back to my car. Coming to grips with my feelings had left me feeling a bit jumpy. I was on edge and quiet the entire car ride home. I could see that Lilly was concerned with me, but didn't want to say anything. Neither did I for the time being.We drove most of the ride in silence. When we got back to the campus, I pulled up to Lilly's dorm to let her out.  
"Thanks for being my date at the ball tonight. You're a great friend." I said, trying not to convey how I felt.  
I saw a look of disappointment cross Lilly's face for a second, but she quickly covered it up with a smile. I saw that look though. I had screwed up. I disappointed her. I felt awful about it. I couldn't have that. I knew what I had to do.  
As Lilly was getting out of the car and walking back over to her dorm, I quickly floated after her.   
"Wait, Lilly!" I called after her, "You forgot something!"  
Lilly turned around quickly "What? What did I forget?" she replied, starting to dig through her purse.  
"This," I said, and pressed my lips against hers. Lilly froze in surprise and stood still for a second before returning the kiss. It was awkward and tentative, but it was beautiful. The glide of Lilly's lips against mine felt amazing, and she tasted like vanilla and coconut. The kiss quickly deepened, as I pushed my tongue at the entrance of her mouth, seeking access. She opened her mouth and let me in. The inside of her mouth tasted even better.  
After a minute or two of swapping spit, we broke apart for air.  
"Wow Alastaire, you're pretty bold to have pulled that off," Lily joked.  
"Either that or pretty stupid," I replied.  
"So does this make us a couple?" Lily asked me.  
"Do you want it to?" I stumbled, full of hope, Not that I'm against it or anything, I jus-"  
"Oh, Alastaire, of course I want it too. I was being so obvious about it, I don't know how you didn't see it." Lilly said.  
"Well then, I guess that settles it. We're a couple." I said, "I can't promise I'll always be the best boyfriend, but I'll try" I responded.  
"Trying is good enough for me," Lily said. With that, she gave me another quick kiss and walked away into her dorm, leaving me to process what had just happened. I was dumbstruck. She really did love me! And she wanted to be with me! All of a sudden, that seemed like a daunting prospect. I was known for being moody and sarcastic, would that scare her off? And what would people say about us? My father? I worried about this for a few moments before deciding there was nothing that I could do. If I really loved Lilly, then I would have to try my best for her. I resolved to do just that. And I've never looked back  
Signed,  
King Alastaire Boo


	13. ***AUTHOR'S NOTE***

Hey guys, gravity0114 here. So the previous chapter was the last of what I have originally written. I could write more, however, if you guys want. Leave some comments below and tell me what you'd like me to do, and what you'd like to see from the story! Thanks!

**Author's Note:**

> Well, what do you guys think? Is it worth continuing? Comments/ constructive criticism welcome!


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